Tourism
From The Report: Bahrain 2020
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Home to one of the region’s most unique island geographies, UNESCO World Heritage sites and the popular annual Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix event, Bahrain already has much to offer visitors. The capital Manama has a long-established reputation for its high-end retail and hospitality offering, providing tourists from neighbouring states, notably Saudi Arabia, with a convenient getaway destination via the King Fahd Causeway. The kingdom has also continued to benefit from its long-established reputation as a more culturally liberal state in the region, which has proven to be a draw for its leading source market Saudi Arabia. However, as the neighbouring kingdom opens up and the region becomes more competitive, further developing the country’s niche markets and attracting arrivals from further afield will prove essential.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

Major draw: A pipeline of new offerings in the strong-performing sector solidify Bahrain’s position in a growing regional market
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Home to one of the region’s most unique island geographies, UNESCO World Heritage sites and the popular annual Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix event, Bahrain already has much to offer visitors. The capital Manama has a long-established reputation for its high-end retail and hospitality offering, providing tourists from neighbouring states, notably Saudi Arabia, with a convenient getaway destination via the King Fahd Causeway. The development of the tourism sector forms a central part of the…

Analysis

Perfect pair: A greater amount of entertainment options at malls is set to boost the shopping segment
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With the GCC retail sector valued at $253.2bn in sales in 2018 and tourists one of the main sources of mall footfall across the region, Bahrain is keen to consolidate its position as an important regional and international shopping destination. A major expansion of the kingdom’s mall offering is under way, while the upgrade and expansion of Bahrain International Airport is set to increase visitor capacity. Indeed, around 270,000 sq metres of retail space was expected to come on-line during…

Overview

The hospitality sector is expanding and evolving to support: growing numbers of international travellers Room to manoeuvre
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Aided by easier and cheaper travel, global tourism has experienced two decades of almost uninterrupted growth. According to the World Bank, the number of international departures more than doubled between 1997 and 2017, from 687m to 1.57bn per annum. With the global middle class estimated by the US-based think tank Brookings Institution to be expanding by as many as 160m people per year until 2021, it is perhaps unsurprising that almost half of the growth in tourist numbers was accounted for by departures from lowand middle-income countries, which increased from 121m in 1997 to 564m in 2017. Significant growth was also recorded in the…