Destination report
Bahrain’s boutique appeal
Ramy Salameh is on the grid to check out Bahrain’s Expo City,
part of a new formula for event success
‘Boutique’ is certainly the buzz word
in Bahrain. Gulf Air, the national
airline even uses the word ‘Boutique’
as a differentiator among the larger
airlines, relating it to the design
of their products and customer
experience.
Campbell-Gray Hotel Group
recently opened ‘The Merchant
House’, the Kingdom’s first true luxury
boutique property, located in the
financial harbour zone of Manama.
Indeed, the Kingdom itself could be
classed as ‘boutique’, covering just
760sq.km and comprising 33 islands;
the two largest being the modern
capital Manama, and the former
capital Muhurraq. However, this
compact destination manages to pack
a heavyweight punch in terms of a
long heritage, married with its culture,
lifestyle, and modern business and
events output.
The strategy is to create a hub Island
Kingdom destination for the Gulf
Co-operation Council (GCC) countries.
Bahrain recorded 12m visitors in 2018
and the direct contribution of tourism
as a non-oil sector in GDP terms has
increased from 4.6% to 6.5%.
In September 2019, Bahrain will
host the region’s largest Chinese Trade
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Issue 3 2019
Expo, with 100 Chinese firms coming to showcase
their products and services at the China Machinery
Fair. This will run in conjunction with the annual
Gulf Industry Fair, to be held at the Bahrain
International Exhibition & Convention Centre
(BIECC). This is a big win for the Bahrain Tourism &
Exhibitions Authority (BTEA).
Another big statement of intent is the planned
construction of the Convention and Exhibition Expo
City in Sakhir, scheduled to open in mid-2021. The
Expo City is nearby the Bahrain International Circuit
(BIC), covering an area of 308,000sqm. To put this
in perspective, the new Exhibition and Convention
Centre will be 10 times larger than BIECC, with 10
exhibition halls spanning 95,000sqm, while the
footprint of the building area alone covers 149,000
sqm. The cluster will also include hotels with a
combined capacity of 1,200 rooms.
Sakhir also regularly hosts the world’s elite F1
drivers at BIC. Indeed, Bahrain was the first GCC
country to host Formula 1.
The MICE industry is a key pillar of the national
economy, as is the realisation of several major real
estate projects. The two industries came together at
the second edition of the Bahrain Real Estate Expo
2019, held in Bahrain City Centre Mall in February.
All of these key strands feed into Bahrain
government’s over-arching ‘Economic Vision 2030’.
Bahrain International Airport will this
year bring a new terminal on stream helping
Gulf Air to facilitate develop its new fleet and
stopover packages for passengers travelling on to
destinations such as Bangkok, Manila and key cities
in India, Sri Lanka. It will also be a springboard to
attract more events. The resulting capacity increase
of passenger arrivals is expected to jump to 14m per
year.
Part of the airport’s modernisation
programme is a new Private Jet
Terminal, a move to attract HNWI
from the region. This kind of traffic
could certainly help to sustain major
exhibitions, such as Jewellery Arabia,
the Middle East’s premier jewellery
and watch exhibition which attracts
50,000 visitors.
While the Kingdom has a strong
banking sector, second only to oil and
a leader in the global Islamic financing
arena, it has not forgotten about
developing its ‘soft power’ credentials,
in terms of arts, culture and sport
and ArtBAB, is Bahrain’s leading
contemporary Art Fair and a big
investment in the creative economy.
Informa Markets Bahrain GM Adam
Ridgway is one advocate of Bahrain:
“Our role as an exhibition organiser is
to create an environment which allows
businesses to flourish. Bahrain has
excellent transport links with the GCC
and the world at large. This strategic
location combines with world-class
infrastructure, good exhibition
facilities, a relaxed and friendly culture
and excellent leisure and dining
options to make it a perfect place for
both business and pleasure.”
w w w.exhibitionworld.co.uk