BTEA on a roll, attracts 140,000 tourists

Bahrain Tourism and Exhibition Authority (BTEA) through its representative offices have contributed BD35 million to the national economy, said BTEA Chief Executive Officer yesterday. The revenue generated was attributed to the spending by 140,000 visitors who entered the Kingdom. BTEA’s Saudi office, Shaikh Khaled bin Humood Al Khalifa said, was a major contributor as it attracted 115,875 tourists with their combined spending reaching BD23,360,400.

Visitors included business and project owners. BTEA said it collaborated with 150 Saudi travel agencies during the period. UK ranked second with 9,831 tourists arriving and contributing BD 5,164,814 to the national economy. UK representative office, BTEA said, succeeded in establishing partnerships with 10 of the most prominent agencies there including Expedia, Southall Travel, Travelbag and Lastminute. com. Closely following the UK was Russia with 7,719 travellers spending BD 4,055,253 million.

BTEA said it Russian office coordinated with a leading travel agency in Europe, Coral Travel, to operate charter flights carrying over 5,000 visitors. Additionally, the number of Russian travel agencies that organise regular trips to Bahrain has risen to reach 65 compared to only 15 prior to the opening of the representative office.

Also, the total number of tourists from India reached 3,697 and their spending amounted to BD 1,255,833. BTEA said it continues to steer its efforts towards making Bahrain a prime destination for weddings, as the Kingdom witnessed a notable increase in Indian Weddings held in Bahrain. BTEA has also opened its representative office in Kuwait.