Tourism in Bahrain is thriving, with visitor numbers increasing more than 50 per cent and revenues in first six months of the year reaching almost $2.5bn.
Tourism Minister Fatima bint Jaffar Al Sairafi stressed progress in achieving the goals set in the 2022-2026 Tourism Strategy.
She expressed confidence in achieving further strides and boosting tourism investments, whose windfall will support the contribution of the hospitality sector to spurring national economic growth.
Bahrain tourism report
The minister made the comments as she chaired the board meeting of the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibition Authority (BTEA), in the presence of BTEA Chief Executive Officer Dr. Nasser Al Qaidi.
During the meeting, the panel reviewed the latest tourism indicators for the period January-June 2023, which showed remarkable improvement on a quarterly and annual basis, as the number of tourists soared in terms of nationalities, types of trips and means of transportation.
According to latest statistics 5.9m visitors arrived in Bahrain over the first six months of this year, up from 3.9m during the same period last year, thus soaring by 51 per cent.
The total number of nights increased by 54 per cent to reach 8.9m in the first half of the year 2023 compared to 5.8m for the same period in 2022.
The total inbound tourism revenues increased during the first half of the year 2023 by 48 per cent to reach BD924m ($2.5bn), up from BD623m ($1.7bn) for the same period of 2022.
The number of one-day visitors soared by 43 per cent, from 2.3 million visitors in the period January-June 2022, to reach 3.3m visitors during the period of the current year 2023.
While the number of overnight visitors increased by 63 per cent, from approximately 1.6m visitors in the first six of the year 2022, to reach about 2.6m visitors during the same period of the year 2023.
Dr. Qaidi gave an update about tourism projects across the Kingdom of Bahrain and highlighted the improving rate of hotel occupancy during the first six months of this year.
The meeting also discussed opportunities to enhance cooperation with Gulf Air, the Kingdom’s national carrier.
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