Bahrain EDB attracts $291m in tourism sector in January-September period

Bahrain Economic Development Board attracted $291 million in direct investment in the tourism sector in the first nine months of the year.

Tourism investments came through eight companies expanding or entering Bahrain for the first time and are expected to generate more 1,090 jobs over the next three years, Bahrain EDB — the public agency responsible for attracting investment to the country — said on Monday. “We are pleased to witness this momentum in the tourism sector post Covid-19,” Munther Al Mudawi, executive director of business development for tourism at Bahrain EDB, said.

“All the indicators showing that we are in the right direction to recover, and with our four-year tourism strategy under the economic recovery plan, we are hoping to attract even more investments and welcome 14 million tourists by 2026,” Mr Al Mudawi said.

Bahrain EDB attracted $921 million in direct investment from 66 companies during the first nine months of the year. The investments are expected to generate more than 4,700 jobs over the next three years in various sectors, including financial services, information and communications technology, logistics, manufacturing and tourism.

To boost the agile ecosystem and accessibility to key decision makers, Bahrain has adopted a “Team Bahrain” approach that brings businesses of all sizes together with decision makers to understand and respond quickly to their needs.

The country’s economy grew 6.9 per cent in the second quarter to record the highest rate of growth in the past 11 years, driven by a strong performance in the country's non-oil sectors targeted under its economic reform plan.

As part of its economic recovery plan, Bahrain announced a four-year strategy for the tourism sector that aims to attract 14.1 million tourists by 2026.

The strategy has four main objectives — to increase the contribution of the tourism sector to gross domestic product to reach 11.4 per cent in 2026, highlight Bahrain’s position as a global tourist hub, increase the number of targeted countries to attract more tourists and diversify tourism products.

Bahrain registered 6.9 million visitors by the end of September. The hospitality and hotel sector recorded around 5.9 million tourist nights, and the total tourism revenue amounted to around $1.7 billion during the first half this year, according to official figures.

Bahrain also posted a surplus of $88m in the first half of the year while recording a 52 per cent annual jump in revenue, the Gulf nation’s Ministry of Finance and National Economy said in August. The country’s revenue in the January-June period stood at almost $4.5 billion.