Bahrain: Tourism projects with investments of up to $13 billion

The volume of tourism infrastructure projects is about 13 billion dollars, including public and private investment in 14 projects to support the growth of Bahrain's tourism and leisure sector, according to a report by the Bahraini Economic Development Council. The participation of the tourism sector during the current year has grown to 7 per cent of domestic output. Existing investments include new hotels, business complexes and therapeutic tourism projects, as well as various land-use projects. The list also includes entertainment centers, restaurants and sea fronts, as well as the project to expand Bahrain International Airport, which costs 1.1 billion dollars, to increase the capacity of the airport to 14 million passengers per year upon completion of the expansion project in 2020. The tourism and leisure sector is one of the vital sectors that the economic Development Board of Bahrain attaches great importance to attracting more investment and achieving economic diversification. Dr. Simon Gable, delegate to the Economic Development Board, said: «The tourism sector contributes 6.3 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP) of Bahrain, and the sector's contribution is likely to increase in the light of the growth in visitor arrivals and increased recreational activities. " Bahrain was currently witnessing an increase in the number of strategic investments in the hotel, retail and leisure sectors, which were helping to promote Bahrain's tourist attraction. He also drew attention to the importance of investment in tourism infrastructure, noting that these investments reflected investor confidence and growth in the tourism sector in Bahrain, the number of tourists visiting Bahrain up to the third quarter of this year reached 8.7 million, an increase of 12.8 per cent compared For the same period last year, and this number is very large when compared to a country with a population of no more than 1.5 million people. He stressed that these investments would contribute significantly to the creation of a distinctive tourist and recreational environment aimed at more tourists, and would establish Bahrain's tourist status at the region level. Tourism infrastructure projects in Bahrain are part of a range of major infrastructure projects implemented across a number of sectors economy with a total value of more than $32 billion, while government projects amount to about $10 billion, and about $7.5 billion is Funded by the Gulf Development program, while private sector investment amounts to about $15 billion. The number of visitors to Bahrain grew by 12.8 per cent, from 7.7 million in 2016 to 8.7 million in 2017. The participation of the tourism sector in public output also grew from 6.3 per cent in 2016 to 7 per cent this year in 2017. Bahrain's visitors ' expenditure during 2017 was about $2.45 billion (BD 91 million), and Bahrain is expected to launch Sea cruise tours in early 2018.