Foreign tourist inflow rises

In happy tiding’s for Bahrain’s tourism sector, authorities here revealed yesterday that the footfall of foreign tourists in the Kingdom has gone up by nearly 6 per cent. The number of foreign tourists visiting the Kingdom rose to 5.9 million in H1 2018, an increase of 5.8pc from the same period a year ago, according to a new Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority statistics. The report says 5,287,717 tourists entered Kingdom through King Fahad Causeway, while 570,074 flown in via. Bahrain International airport. A total of 49,864 visitors landed in the kingdom from luxury liners.

The statistics for the first half of 2018 further states that the increase in footfall has resulted in generating a total revenue of BD812.4 million, with the average expenditure per visitor being BD76 per night/day. The increase has also resulted in a 16pc increase in the average length of stay per visitor to 3.2 night per tourist, from the yearago period. While 73pc of the visitors chose to stay in hotels during their stay in Bahrain, 14pc of the visitors elected to stay in furnished apartments. Ten pc of the visitors tagged along with their relatives, while a minor 2pc preferred to stay in their own apartments.

When it comes to occupancy rates, 50pc of the visitors choose to stay in four-star hotels, while 48pc chose 5-star hotels during their stay in the Kingdom. The meeting, third of the year and headed by the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani, was held on Sunday at the Ministry’s headquarters. The board also reviewed and discussed several topics on the agenda including reviewing the financial reports dated up to 30 September 2018.