‘Domestic Tourism Survey’ to track activities of tourists

Manama : Bahrain yesterday announced the launch of a ‘Domestic Tourism Survey’  to improve the Kingdom’s tourism sector by closely monitoring the inbound and outbound tourist movements. 

The survey, according to a statement released, will monitor all recreational and leisure trips made by residents during the period from 2016 to 2017.  

Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) in close cooperation with the Information & eGovernment Authority (iGA) have also set up a call centre for the
purpose. 

“The results will provide us with a detailed overview of the tourism sector,” said the Chief Executive Officer of the BTEA, Shaikh Khalid bin Humood Al Khalifa

The programme, according to Shaikh Khalid, is also the first of its kind in the Kingdom under the Tourism Statistics Development Programme and in line with the requirements of the World Tourism Organisation.

“All tourism related activities and services in the Kingdom will be monitored through the call centre,” the statement said, adding that the data obtained will be used to determine the development indicators of the industry and help decision-makers develop policies.

The programme also forms part of the implementation of the ‘Tourism Expenditure Survey to Quantify Inbound and Outbound Tourism for the year 2017’.  

The survey aims to collect detailed data on daily journeys, including overnight trips of domestic visitors within the Kingdom as well as outbound travellers. 

The survey questionnaire will find out domestic destinations in the Kingdom, purpose, source of information available to the domestic tourists, assistance provided during the planning process of the trip, the means of transportation used, the type of accommodation and the duration of the trip. 

The survey also covers the type of activities and events during the trip, the total cost and the main reasons that hinder families from domestic tourism visits. 

The call centre staff will contact Bahraini and non-Bahraini families to fill out the information on an electronic form. Inquiries are also received via the hotline at 17878162 and 17878165.