BAHRAIN has an “edge” over its Gulf neighbours as it works to further boost tourism with millions of dollars worth of projects in the pipeline, according to a leading expert.
Sabre chief commercial officer Roshan Mendis explained that while every Gulf country was racing towards promoting itself as a travel destination, Bahrain already has all the key elements needed to stand out.
In an interview with the GDN during his visit to Manama for the Sabre Travel Network board of directors meeting with Gulf Air, Mr Mendis said that Bahrain’s stability, growth and future plans would continue to attract tourists in the long run.
“We are optimistic about Bahrain both as a market for outbound and inbound travel,” he said.
“Gulf Air has grand plans to refresh their network, while the new passenger terminal is being constructed, the Formula One race is held annually and there are endless construction of office, retail and residential spaces in Bahrain.
“I think Bahrain is no exception to the region as it is trying to differentiate itself, but it has an edge because of its relative stability.
“Security and comfort helps businesses and boosts tourism.”
He said that although this year’s regional market has been flat, he was optimistic about future growth prospects – adding that Bahrain was on track to achieving double digit tourism growth.
“The region is critically important for us and just like any other region it has gone through ups and downs,” he said,
“These ups and downs, particularly those that are political, are disturbing to travellers and constraints movements.
“The market this year has been generally flat, but we are optimistic about the medium and long term growth prospects.
“However, Bahrain is on track to achieve double digit tourism growth because of the vision of several government entities that are all playing a vital role in boosting this sector, and we are seeing it pay off.”
He added that Bahrain has enjoyed stability as well as high global rankings for its internet and mobile penetration, which made it stand out in the regional market.
Latest tourism indicators from January until September this year shows that the total international arrivals to Bahrain (excluding locals) reached 10.3 million, which was a six per cent growth compared with the same period last year.
Inbound tourism registered in the first eight months of the year was 9.1m tourists, which excluded Bahrain residents and other arrivals for non-tourism purposes – a 5.3pc increase compared with the same period last year.
Meanwhile, Mr Mendis revealed that by the first quarter of 2019 the new Sabre Red Workspace will be rolled out in the region, which is an interface platform for travel agents to access the reservations system.
Information
“The roll out of the new Sabre Red Workspace by the first quarter of next year will bring consumer perspective to the travel agent’s work as they will have plethora of information to share with the traveller such as maps, images, reviews, and price fluctuations among other things,” he said.
Sabre is a leading technology provider for the global travel industry and in March this year it opened the regional headquarters for Sabre Travel Network Middle East (STNME) in Manama to support a large scale of travel agencies and corporate travel buyers in the Middle East.
Sabre Global Distribution System is used by travel agents around the world with more than 400 airlines, 220,000 hotels, 42 car rental brands, 38 rail providers and 17 cruise liners.
sandy@gdn.com.bh
&uuid=(email))