Bahraini Spirit
November 25th, 2004, 10:24 AM
Hi, good news for bahrain, tourists hit 5 million, mostly gulf (82%) but still, enjoy:
http://tradearabia.com/source/2004-11/25/bahrain.jpg
Tourism spending in Bahrain is expected to top BD1 billion ($2.65 billion) this year with five million people visiting the country.
Eighty-two per cent of the visitors are from Gulf countries, Information Minister Nabeel Al Hamer told a forum at the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Al Hamer said that tourism spending had increased from BD780 million in 1995 to more than BD1 billion this year.
He said that the tourism industry currently represented 9 per cent to 10 per cent of the country's gross national product.
'The Information Ministry is now working with the Economic Development Board to increase it to 20 per cent in the coming years,' said Al Hamer.
He said that the tourism industry now accounted for around 17 per cent of the total work force in Bahrain.
Bahrain now has 90 hotels, spanning all categories, with 6,788 hotel rooms, said Al Hamer.
The forum was entitled Media and the Economy - Partners in Development.
Meanwhile, business leaders attending the forum said Bahrain lacked a clear and comprehensive strategy to promote its tourism industry.
The lack of strategy had contributed to a string of unsuccessful summer festivals held annually in Bahrain, they said.
It has also resulted in a hotel industry without beaches.
"Many of the strategies that are proposed by the government are on paper without any serious steps or the mechanism to implement them," said chamber tourism affairs committee head Abdulhakeem Al Shimari.
"We need to know what are the projects that are either being implemented or will be in the future," said Al Shimari.
"We need to know what is the tourism map of Bahrain up to at least 2015. There is also a lack of promotional programmes in the country to specify all tourist attractions.
"The majority of tourists are from Gulf countries. What about visitors from the rest of the world, who would further boost the tourism industry?"
He said that successful tourism required the availability of all elements that contribute to attracting visitors. "Bahrain is an island, but there are no available beaches for investors to build hotels on. There has not been a single new five-star hotel built on a beach for many years," said Al Shimari.
He blamed a lack of incentives and a failure to allocate land for investment in beaches. "There will not be any hotels on beaches until the allocation of lands is carried out," said Al Shimari.
The private sector needs the support of the government to promote industries and investment incentives, he said.
"In many countries, both the private sector and the government work on attracting foreign investments," said Al Shimari.
"However, the government's support to the tourism sector in Bahrain has been decreasing compared to its backing to other sectors, such as banking and finance."
Committee member Duaij Al Rumaihi said that there should be further care to organise shopping and summer festivals.
He said that there had been a trend by the government to allow foreign investors to host summer festivals in Bahrain. "Why not allow the local private sector to organise and carry out the festival with the help of the government," said Al Rumaihi.
Al Hamer agreed on the importance of the setting up of a strategy aimed at boosting the tourism sector. "It is true that currently there is no clear strategy that ensures the ideal utilisation of the country's tourism industry," he said.
"However, the setting up of a comprehensive strategy must be through a joint effort by the government and the private sector."
The minister also agreed that the country's four past experiences of hosting summer festivals were not entirely successful. "Organisers must realise that such events cannot be planned in a short period of time," said Al Hamer.
He said his ministry would continue to offer the means that help promote the private sector's efforts, by using its media channels.
"I hope that the next summer festival will be successful and we have no reservations in backing an idea such as the setting up a joint committee to organise not only festivals during the summer, but throughout the year," said Al Hamer.
He also pointed out that there had not been a request for a five-star hotel to be established in Bahrain for some time. "Any investor can build a hotel here in Bahrain, provided the project abides by the laws regulating the tourism industry," said Al Hamer.
He said that there were many hotel companies here that had only one hotel under their management. "The private sector needs to take serious steps towards building new hotels."
http://tradearabia.com/source/2004-11/25/bahrain.jpg
Tourism spending in Bahrain is expected to top BD1 billion ($2.65 billion) this year with five million people visiting the country.
Eighty-two per cent of the visitors are from Gulf countries, Information Minister Nabeel Al Hamer told a forum at the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Al Hamer said that tourism spending had increased from BD780 million in 1995 to more than BD1 billion this year.
He said that the tourism industry currently represented 9 per cent to 10 per cent of the country's gross national product.
'The Information Ministry is now working with the Economic Development Board to increase it to 20 per cent in the coming years,' said Al Hamer.
He said that the tourism industry now accounted for around 17 per cent of the total work force in Bahrain.
Bahrain now has 90 hotels, spanning all categories, with 6,788 hotel rooms, said Al Hamer.
The forum was entitled Media and the Economy - Partners in Development.
Meanwhile, business leaders attending the forum said Bahrain lacked a clear and comprehensive strategy to promote its tourism industry.
The lack of strategy had contributed to a string of unsuccessful summer festivals held annually in Bahrain, they said.
It has also resulted in a hotel industry without beaches.
"Many of the strategies that are proposed by the government are on paper without any serious steps or the mechanism to implement them," said chamber tourism affairs committee head Abdulhakeem Al Shimari.
"We need to know what are the projects that are either being implemented or will be in the future," said Al Shimari.
"We need to know what is the tourism map of Bahrain up to at least 2015. There is also a lack of promotional programmes in the country to specify all tourist attractions.
"The majority of tourists are from Gulf countries. What about visitors from the rest of the world, who would further boost the tourism industry?"
He said that successful tourism required the availability of all elements that contribute to attracting visitors. "Bahrain is an island, but there are no available beaches for investors to build hotels on. There has not been a single new five-star hotel built on a beach for many years," said Al Shimari.
He blamed a lack of incentives and a failure to allocate land for investment in beaches. "There will not be any hotels on beaches until the allocation of lands is carried out," said Al Shimari.
The private sector needs the support of the government to promote industries and investment incentives, he said.
"In many countries, both the private sector and the government work on attracting foreign investments," said Al Shimari.
"However, the government's support to the tourism sector in Bahrain has been decreasing compared to its backing to other sectors, such as banking and finance."
Committee member Duaij Al Rumaihi said that there should be further care to organise shopping and summer festivals.
He said that there had been a trend by the government to allow foreign investors to host summer festivals in Bahrain. "Why not allow the local private sector to organise and carry out the festival with the help of the government," said Al Rumaihi.
Al Hamer agreed on the importance of the setting up of a strategy aimed at boosting the tourism sector. "It is true that currently there is no clear strategy that ensures the ideal utilisation of the country's tourism industry," he said.
"However, the setting up of a comprehensive strategy must be through a joint effort by the government and the private sector."
The minister also agreed that the country's four past experiences of hosting summer festivals were not entirely successful. "Organisers must realise that such events cannot be planned in a short period of time," said Al Hamer.
He said his ministry would continue to offer the means that help promote the private sector's efforts, by using its media channels.
"I hope that the next summer festival will be successful and we have no reservations in backing an idea such as the setting up a joint committee to organise not only festivals during the summer, but throughout the year," said Al Hamer.
He also pointed out that there had not been a request for a five-star hotel to be established in Bahrain for some time. "Any investor can build a hotel here in Bahrain, provided the project abides by the laws regulating the tourism industry," said Al Hamer.
He said that there were many hotel companies here that had only one hotel under their management. "The private sector needs to take serious steps towards building new hotels."