Jose KunnappallyDubai: For over 2000 years, Bahrain’s pearls have been prized as one of the best natural pearls in the world. In December 2017, Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) launched ‘Pearl Diving’ trips for visitors, offering them an opportunity to hunt for pearls right in the seas of the Gulf.
Today, visitors will only have to follow a simple six-step guide to be a modern pearl diver. Tickets can be bought through the official website portal.btea.bh. They can collect up to 60 oysters. The pearls are then appraised for value and quality, and travellers can bring their bounty back home with them.
“The move is part of an overall initiative to boost tourism in the Arabian Gulf,” said Yousef Mohammed AlKhan, Director of Tourism Marketing & Promotion, BTEA. “It will also be a way to raise money to protect the Gulf waters and bolster a more sustainable pearl diving industry.”
Tourism in Bahrain is on an upswing. Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in 2017 touched 12.7 million. “In 2015, tourism contributed 3.5 per cent towards non-oil GDP. The goal was to reach 7 per cent by the end of 2018, but by end of 2017 itself, we hit 6.9 per cent. We want to welcome 15 million tourists in the next few years,” informed AlKhan. Cruise tourism is also witnessing a boom with 42 reported port calls this year till April.
At Arabian Travel Market (ATM) Dubai 2018, Thailand-based hospitality company Dusit International signed a hotel management agreement with Dar Al-Huda Hotel Apartments to operate the Dusit Resort and Spa Lagoona Beach in Bahrain. This will be Dusit’s second branded property in Bahrain as it follows last year’s signing of dusitD2 City Centre Bahrain, which is slated to open by the end of the year.
“We are also launching our new events calendar app to showcase events in Bahrain,” AlKhan said. Dubai-based hospitality chain Jumeirah opened the Jumeirah Royal Saray in Bahrain in February and the Reef Resort in Reef Island, another 5-star ultra-luxury resort launched in April.
The kingdom’s history dates back to 3000 BC. The Bahrain Pearling Trail or Bahrain Pearling Pathway and the Bahrain Fort are on the list of UNESCO® World Heritage sites. The oldest and largest cemetery in the world, Bahrain National Museum and House of Quran are some of the other cultural attractions.
For adventure tourists, Bahrain offers exciting opportunities. Besides Gravity, Bahrain’s one and only indoor skydiving facility, Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) at Sakhir desert, where the Bahrain Grand Prix Formula One Championship race is staged, is an unmissable destination.
“We are building the biggest exhibition and convention centre in the GCC next to the BIC – 10 halls of 9500 sq. mt. each, an auditorium for 40,000 people, a 60,000-seat stadium and many malls and hotels, too. This will become a full-fledged sports city,” Alkhan informed.
MICE, especially Indian weddings, are finding an exotic setting in Bahrain. Ever since, the Jatias (Hardcastle Restaurants) and Mehtas (Rosy Blue) held their children’s wedding in Manama – a gathering of over 1200 guests – more and more affluent Indian families prefer the kingdom.
Two other experiences worth exploring are the Hawar Islands, 30 minutes by boat from Bahrain and home to many bird species, and Jarada Islands, a white sand island strip in the middle of the sea which is 40 minutes by boat from Bahrain. The island appears and disappears with the tide. When it disappears it is only a foot deep.
The Bahrain International Airport is undergoing a $1.1 billion expansion, which, when completed in 2019, will be four times the size of the current facility. In the coming months, the national carrier Gulf Air’s incoming fleet of 39 new Boeing and Airbus aircraft will commence delivery. A total of seven new aircraft, five Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners and two Airbus A320neo aircraft, will also enter the airline’s fleet this year.
Gulf Air will add eight new destinations to its network in 2018. In India, its current operations in Delhi, Chennai, Kochi, Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram and Hyderabad will be enhanced by flights to Bengaluru and Kozhikode. It will also begin flights to Abha and Tabuk in Saudi Arabia, Baku in Azerbaijan and Casablanca in Morocco. Gulf Air’s Cairo operations will be supplemented by direct flights to Alexandria and flights to Sharm El Shaikh.
Saudi Arabia is the kingdom’s biggest source market and both countries are building a new road and rail causeway between them to ease congestion on the existing link. The King Hamad Causeway is expected to cost $5 billion. This will augment the existing 25-km (16 miles) King Fahd causeway open since 1986.
Bahrain was the first country in the Middle East to discover oil way back in 1932. After 85 years, oil and gas have been discovered again – a whopping 80 billion barrels of reserve. This is certain to usher in an era of an unprecedented economic boom.
