More efforts urged to boost tourism

Manama : High occupancy rates at Bahraini hotels during Eid are a good sign, but more efforts are needed to boost tourism for the rest of the year, an expert opined.

The high inflow of tourists to Bahrain during Eid shows the true potential of Bahrain as a tourist destination, Four Star Hotel committee Chairman Hameed Al Halwachi told DT News.  

“We have received a lot of visitors from other GCC countries, especially Saudi Arabia. The hotels that shared the information with us reported high occupancy rates,” he said. 

However, a lot of work remains to be done to improve tourism for the rest of the year, said Al Hawachi, who is also the CEO and Board Member of Al Safir Hotel.

“The Eid holidays is a fantastic period for hotels in Bahrain, many hotels report close to full occupancy rates during this period. This shows that Bahrain is an attractive destination for travellers. 

“Eid holidays, Formula One and other holidays are always good periods for tourism in Bahrain, but we do not need to limit ourselves to this. More entertainment programmes can be created and promoted to attract tourists during the other months as well. For example the Spring of Culture was a great programme, we can have more programmes like this,” he said

He said that hotels, organisations and relevant authorities should closely together to take tourism and hospitality industry of this country to another level.