Minister pledges to boost spending
Manama : Industry, Commerce and Tourism Minister, Zayed bin Rashid Al-Zayani yesterday pledged to continue investing in the Kingdom’s hospitality sectors highlighting that the move “will increase the hotel room supply” in the Kingdom by about “4,000 until 2020”.
The Kingdom, Al Zayani said, has succeeded in attracting tourism investments to build 15 5-star and 4-star hotels, and beach resorts to be completed within the next five years.
According to the latest Bahrain Economic Quarterly (BEQ) report by Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), Bahrain recorded a 3 per net growth in its hotel and restaurant sector, thanks to the plans to establish 15 new five and four-star hotels and beachfront resorts, with a collective investment value of more than US$10 billion over the next five years.
The report also reveals that the list includes world-renowned hotel brands including The One&Only Resort, Wyndham Grand Hotel, Fairmont, Vida Hotel & Resort, The Address Hotel & Resort, Ibis Hotel and Pullman Hotel. These hotels will add to the Kingdom’s existing portfolio of over 190 hotels and resorts.
The EDB report, released in April this year, further points out that the hotels in the Kingdom currently offer a capacity of more than 16,500 rooms.
Elaborating, the minister also praised the hotel classification system, which has been in force since 2015. “The services delivered by hotels in accordance with their classification will continue unchanged,” the minister said.
The system, according to reports, provides tourists with information on what they can expect from various classifications of hotels, apart from providing hoteliers with a clear perspective on the services and facilities and standards that they should offer.
The minister also pledged to continue developing the tourism and hospitality sectors, as well as sub-sectors by “encouraging investments in them, and launching innovative models of hotel investment.”
He pointed out that the Kingdom has a package of mega development projects worth more than the US $32 billion.
These projects, some of which will contribute to revitalizing the tourism sector, include the construction of a second bridge linking Bahrain and Saudi Arabia through the GCC Railway Network, and the expansion of the Bahrain International Airport, which is expected to raise the airport’s capacity by 65 percent to reach 14 million passengers annually.
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