Manama, Nov. 21 (BNA): The Bahrain Economic Development Board (Bahrain EDB), with the support of Team Bahrain, attracted US $291 million (BD 110 million) in direct investments in the tourism sector during the first three quarters of 2022.
Tourism investments come through eight companies that are expanding or entering Bahrain for the first time and are expected to create more than 1,090 jobs over the next three years.
In all, EDB attracted US$921 million (348 million Bahraini dinars) in direct investment from 66 companies during the first nine months of the year. The investments are expected to generate more than 4,700 jobs over the next three years in key sectors, including financial services, information and communication technology, logistics, manufacturing and tourism.
Munther Al-Mudawi, Executive Director of Business Development for Tourism at the Bahrain Economic Development Board, commented: “We are pleased to witness this momentum in the tourism sector post-Covid-19. All indicators show that we are moving in the right direction of recovery, and through the four-year tourism strategy under Economic recovery plan, we hope to attract more investments and welcome 14 million tourists by 2026.”
As part of the Kingdom’s economic recovery plan, Bahrain has announced a new 4-year strategy (2022-2026) for the tourism sector that aims to attract 14.1 million tourists by 2026. The framework of the strategy includes four main objectives: Increasing the contribution of the tourism sector’s access to GDP to 11.4 percent in 2026, highlighting Bahrain’s position as a global tourism center, increasing the number of targeted countries to attract more tourists, and diversifying tourism products.
According to the latest statistics, Bahrain recorded 6.9 million visitors by the end of September 2022. The hospitality and hotel sector recorded about 5.9 million tourist nights, and total tourism revenues amounted to about 1.7 billion US dollars (622.4 million Bahraini dinars) during the first. half of 2022.
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