Bahrain tourism aims double digit growth for national GDP

Bahrain, the island nation in the Persian Gulf, is expecting a double-digit growth in the tourism and hospitality industry, that can further uplift the nation’s overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“Tourism has bestowed over 6.3 per cent to Bahrain’s GDP back in 2017. Hence the figures could rise up with respect to the completion of the ongoing tourism projects,” said Ali Ghunam Murtaza, the director of real estate, tourism and leisure business development at the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB).

“We foresee the contribution to go up for many reasons. Part of that is that we are actively working towards it. We want the contribution of tourism to increase along with other sectors in Bahrain. Through direct and indirect investment to tourism, I think it will be a big part of GDP,” said Ali Ghunam Murtaza.

Meanwhile, the country targets to attract over 15 million tourists by 2020, that can push a revenue of over $13 billion in the near future. The nation currently has a wide variety of tourism products like five-star resorts, the Vida, the Jumeirah (Royal Saray) and so on.

Additionally, the country as part of attracting visitors, is about to invest $7.2 billion in Gulf Air, with more facilities to the national airports. The investor-friendly nation also has a strong foreign investment, that can contribute to a strong basement for tourism development.