Bahrainis boost tourism in Saudi

If you are surprised by the number of Saudi registered cars on Bahraini roads during weekends, you will be even more amazed to know that Bahrain contributes a huge amount to the Saudi tourism industry.

Bahraini and Kuwaiti tourists constituted 33 per cent each of Saudi Arabia’s visitors last year, according to a report released by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTNH). This is followed by Qatar and the United Arabic Emirates, the study showed.

According to reports, over 300,000 Saudi citizens visited Bahrain during Eid Al Adha season and spent BD40 million in Bahrain. On the other hand, 6.6m tourists from the Arabian Gulf spent BD2.28 billion in Saudi last year, according to the report.

Tourism Information and Research Centre (MAS), the statistical arm of SCTNH, said 11.3 million people who visited Saudi last year from GCC countries and among them, 4.7 million were one-day visitors. But one-day visitor without an overnight stay is not considered a tourist by global tourism concept, reported Saudi’s daily, Arab News.

The Mecca province including Mecca, Jeddah and Taif, is the most preferred destination of GCC tourists. Macca is followed by Madinah, Eastern Province, Riyadh and Asir. In the first half of this year, Saudi received around 7.4 million GCC visitors, registering an increase of 25 per cent compared with the same period last year. SCTNH plays a major role in promoting Saudi travel companies in organising tours for GCC nationals by engaging them in specialised travel exhibitions such as Arabian Travel Market, which is held annually in Dubai, and the Travel and Tourism Exhibition in Kuwait.