Bahrain has been transforming itself as a destination for meetings and events, with the opening of what is said to be the Middle East’s largest exhibition centre, and the ongoing development of a tourism and events infrastructure cluster.
Nasser Qaedi, CEO of Bahrain Tourism & Exhibitions Authority, told TTGmice that the destination in the Gulf is building its business events dreams from a position of strength.
“Bahrain has historically been a very important epicentre of business and trade activities in the Middle East, and we have a long-standing civilisation of over 5,000 years old. We have positioned ourselves as a melting pot of different cultures, activities and trade, while translating our heritage, history and affluence into a modern setting of development,” said Nasser.
These advantages are bolstered by various hardware investments. Exhibition World Bahrain, managed by ASM Global and a subsidiary of the Bahrain Tourism & Exhibitions Authority, boasts 95,000m2 of exhibition space, 94 meeting rooms, a Grand Hall with 4,000-seat capacity, and more, is expected to attract “any type of events globally”.
Exhibition World Bahrain is next to a Formula One circuit and a purpose-built amphitheatre.
“Hopefully next year we will break ground on the new sports city, which will be part of that huge cluster. Bahrain will be one of the few places in the world where you have world-class facilities clustered together, and is ready and willing to host global events,” he added.
The destination has also launched seven new hotels over the past year, and 15 more are expected to open in the next eight to 12 months. All are four- or five-star brands like Conrad and Marriott.
Air accessibility is improving as well. National carrier Gulf Air will commence flights to China’s Shanghai and Guangzhou, and more direct flights will come as Bahrain partners with more airlines.
Nasser said Bahrain is attracting an increasing number of meetings as destination brand awareness grows. Associations will appreciate Bahrain’s compact size, which “means that things can be done quickly”, the newness of its events and hospitality infrastructure, affordability relative to other modern cities, and the tourism authority’s commitment to supporting inbound meetings.
