Office launch prior to much-anticipated Formula 1 2018 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix

KUWAIT: In line with its efforts to attract tourists from across the world to the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) officially inaugurated its latest representative office in Kuwait, which was announced during a press conference held at the Four Seasons Hotel, Kuwait, on 14 February 2019.

Launching the office prior to the much-anticipated Formula 1 2018 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix comes in line with the BTEA's efforts to attract large tourist groups to the Kingdom of Bahrain. For the first time, the event will be will be held over a period of four days, featuring superstar DJ and record producer, Martin Garrix in addition to world-renowned producer, songwriter and DJ, Kygo.

"The BTEA strives to promote the Kingdom of Bahrain's tourism, leisure and hospitality sectors; providing a fertile ground for foreign investment. Through the inauguration of our representative office in Kuwait, we aim to establish relationships with Kuwaiti tour operators and travel agencies in order to promote the Kingdom of Bahrain as a leading tourist destination that continuously hosts various events and festivals that are suitable for all age groups," said the CEO of BTEA, Shaikh Khaled bin Humood Al-Khalifa.

"We will be working closely with BTEA's representative office in Kuwait to increase the number of visitors to the Kingdom of Bahrain, further reaffirming its position as a tourism destination of choice with a number of new hotels, retail and leisure developments that are currently underway. We look forward to strengthening ties between Bahrain and Kuwait with an aim to increase the tourism influx which will contribute to the growth and development of the tourism sector and the overall national economy," said the Director of Tourism Marketing and Promotions at BTEA, Yousef Al-Khan.

A meeting was also held on Wednesday, 13 February 2019, between Kuwaiti tour operators and their Bahraini counterparts, including representatives from a number of leading hotels, to discuss opportunities for cooperation in order to achieve their joint tourism related goals.

Bahrain has welcomed 328,850 visitors from Kuwait in 2018 with 247,959 tourists accessing the Kingdom through the King Fahad Causeway, 80,822 through the Bahrain International Airport and 69 through the Khalifa Bin Salman Port. Other than Kuwait, the BTEA has also launched representative offices in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, India, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom.

The launch of the representative office comes in line with the BTEA's strategic outreach program to promote the tourism brand ''Ours Yours' aimed at showcasing the Kingdom of Bahrain as the ideal tourism destination to the regional and international markets and further promote the Kingdom's touristic offering as a main contributor to the overall economic growth in line with the Economic Vision 2030.