Bahrain aims to increase the number of tourists visiting the kingdom to 14.1 million a year by 2026.
Under the new 2022-2026 tourism strategy, announced by tourism minister Zayed R AlZayani, Bahrain also aims at an average daily visitor spend of 74.8 Bahraini dinars (about $199) and raising the average tourist stay to 3.5 days.
AlZayani said Bahrain is working on increasing the contribution of the tourism sector to GDP, which he said was raised to 7 percent currently, up from 4 percent in 2015, by the efforts of the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority.
The Authority targets the contribution of tourism to GDP to reach 11.4 percent by 2026.
The minister said the strategy relies on seven pillars: developing marine attractions, business tourism, sports tourism, recreational tourism, medical tourism, cultural tourism, and media tourism and cinematography.
Bahrain Tourism is developing several tourism projects, including the diving waterfront, the Bahrain Bay beach project, and the Qalali Coast waterfront.
Other projects include the development of tourist resorts such as the Mantis Hotel and Resort in the Hawar Islands, the Jumeirah Bahrain Bay Resort, the Tourist City project, the Bilaj Aljazayer Beach development project, and the Saada project.