BTEA: Promotion campaigns in 9 Middle Eastern and European countries

Manama, Feb. 21 (BNA): The Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) plans to boost its efforts to attract more regional and international tourists to Bahrain through an integrated program of activities that includes organizing international events throughout 2022 and promoting tourism in Bahrain to the regional and international markets. This initiative is part of the Kingdom of Bahrain's 2022-2026 tourism strategy launched last November as one of the projects that fall under the Kingdom's Economic Recovery Plan. BTEA has inked 49 tourism marketing agreements with tourism organizations throughout the world, through which it will launch promotional campaigns in 16 countries, including 9 tourist markets that Bahrain will access for the first time. The United Arab Emirates, the Sultanate of Oman, Egypt, Turkey, Israel, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and Ukraine are among the countries covered by the agreements, this is in addition to the markets in which the authority is primarily active, namely Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Kingdom, India, Russia, Germany, and France. Dr. Nasser Qaedi, the CEO of the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority, stated that attracting more tourists from outside Bahrain is a top priority for the authority as part of its efforts to revitalize the tourism sector, owing to the economic and social importance of international tourists. “Our efforts to attract international tourists include extending their stay in Bahrain by providing a comprehensive calendar of events for individuals and groups,” Dr. Qaedi said. Dr. Qaedi stated that BTEA is eager to work with all partners inside and outside of Bahrain to achieve the program's objectives, particularly because the revitalization of international tourism would have a positive impact on the national economy, resulting in more job opportunities and increased tourism investment projects that will, in turn, lead to increasing the tourism contribution to the GDP. “BTEA is eager to maximize the tourism sector's benefit from this program and increase tourism establishments' revenues, while also encouraging everyone in the tourism industry, including hotels, resorts, restaurants, tour operators, to participate in this program by continuing to develop in their respective fields, as well as the continuous improvement of tourism services,” Dr. Qaedi added. Dr. Qaedi noted that the launch of this program coincides with the tourism sector's return to good performance rates following the pandemic, affirming BTEA's efforts to continue to offer advanced solutions and initiatives aimed at opening new markets and enhancing Bahrain's position as a preferred tourist destination on the global tourism map. Mr. Ali Amralla, CEO of “Visit Bahrain” further highlighted that the plans to boost its efforts to attract more international Tourists to Bahrain and expansion of opening different new markets is a great way to enhance Tourism & the Economy in Bahrain. He added that “Visit Bahrain” is launching a Charter Flight from Ukraine, Italy, and the Czech Republic as well as resuming our Charter Flight Operation from Russia and affirmed that the boosted efforts from the Bahrain Tourism & Exhibition Authority are great support for the operation of these Charter Flights. Mr. Othman Mazouz - Best Of Bahrain - Business Development Manager, affirmed that Everyone saw that BTEA boosted its programs, events, and initiatives outside Bahrain in the context of its keenness to attract more regional and worldwide tourists. " We e already seeing the results of those efforts that support indicators of the sector's recovery following the pandemic, and we are eager to keep up with the authority's expectations, and fully prepared to welcome more tourists to Bahrain to provide them with an exceptional experience that exceeds their expectations," according to Mr. Mazouz.