Arab News, Tuesday, Nov 22, 2022 | Rabi Al Thani 27, 1444
Bahrain secures $291m tourism sector investments in 2022
Bahrain :The
Bahrain Economic Development Board has secured 110 million Bahraini dinars ($291
million) in direct investment in the tourism sector during the first nine months
of 2022, according to a statement.
The tourism investments come as a total of eight
firms are either expanding to the Gulf country or entering it for the first
time.
Over the next three years, the new firms are
expected to generate as many as 1090 jobs in the country.
In total, Bahrain EDB attracted 348 million
Bahraini dinars in direct investments from 65 entities during the first three
quarters of 2022.
Over the course of the coming three years, the
investments are anticipated to bring about up to 4,700 jobs across diverse
crucial sectors including financial services, Information and communications
technology, logistics, manufacturing, tourism, and others.“We are pleased to
witness this momentum in the tourism sector post COVID-19. All the indicators
show that we are in the right direction to recover, and with our
four-year tourism strategy under the Economic Recovery Plan, we are hoping to
attract even more investments and welcome 14 million tourists by 2026,” the
statement said, citing Munther Al-Mudawi, executive director – Business
Development for Tourism at Bahrain EDB.
As part of its Economic Recovery Plan, Bahrain has
unveiled plans to lure 14.1 million tourists by 2026 through a four-year
strategy.
The strategy is based on four chief aims: boosting
the tourism sector’s contribution to the country’s gross domestic product to
reach 11.4 percent by 2026, cementing Bahrain’s position as a global tourist
hub, diversifing tourism products, and raising the number of targeted countries
to attract more tourists.
Earlier this year, Bahrain’s Tourism Minister
Fatima bint Jaafar Al-Sairafi reiterated the Kingdom’s commitment to boosting
tourism in the Arab region during a meeting with the president of the Arab
Tourism Organization Bandar bin Fahad Al-Fhaid, state news agency BNA reported.