Tourism in Bahrain to burgeon post 2011 unrest

Manama : Bahrain’s tourism and hospitality industry has been on a steady path of growth, after recovering from the effects of the 2011 unrest, the latest GCC Hospitality Industry Report revealed.

According to the report, prepared by Alpen Capital, the industry is projected to reach $0.7 billion by 2020, translating into an annual average growth of 7.3pc from 2015. “The onset of political unrest in Bahrain at the start of 2011 had a severe impact on the tourism market, as foreign tourist arrivals dropped year-on-year by more than 40pc. However, recovery has been strong with tourist arrivals growing by 15pc annually post the turmoil,” the report revealed. 

“A modest revival of oil prices and government plans to promote the country as a boutique destination is likely to boost tourist arrivals. International tourist arrivals to Bahrain are expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.7pc during the forecast period, broadly in line with the increase in hotel and serviced apartment rooms supply. The significant surge expected in occupancy is mainly due to a low base and in view of a strong revival in the country’s tourism landscape.” it stated.

“The drop of oil prices is one of the main challenges facing hospitality and tourism sector of the GCC region,” the report said. 

“A slump in the oil prices has slowed down the oil-dependent GCC economies, thus adversely affecting business sentiments in the region and forcing most of the member countries to resort to austerity measures. Consequently, spending on business travel and MICE events have reduced. For instance, the UAE-based corporates have reduced their spending on corporate travel by 5pc to 8pc in the last two years alone,” it explained, and added: “Key business cities such as Doha and Riyadh are also witnessing a similar phenomenon. The drop in economic activity is also resulting in job losses or pay cuts across the region.”

“Recently, Saudi Arabia and Oman reduced benefits to their public sector employees. Consequently, a lower disposable income of the regional residents is likely to have a negative impact on their inter-regional travelling plans and the hospitality market. An ongoing slowdown in oil prices could further result in lower ADRs and occupancy rates,” the report added. 

In April 2016, Bahrain unveiled a new tourism brand entity with a slogan – “Ours. Yours. Bahrain”. 

The government has also framed a tourism strategy focusing on the development of beaches, promotion of island living concept, and revamping of incoming tourist access points such as port facilities for yachts. 

The key objectives of the strategy are to double the contribution of tourism to the country’s GDP by 2018, promote Bahrain as a destination in China and India, increase average stay per tourist, and increase the number of cruise visitors.