Tourism

It has long been recognised that the Kingdom’s tourism offering needs to remain dynamic and continue to develop as competition from elsewhere in the region intensifies. Fortunately, the government appears to recognise this and has taken steps to support the development of the private sector’s tourism offerings.

By almost any accounting, Bahrain’s tourist trade weathered a difficult year in 2011; however, not all of the Kingdom’s tourism segments were affected, nor have the fundamental strengths that have made it a leading destination for business travel been damaged. Indeed, Bahrain’s performance and outlook as a site for meetings, incentives, conferences...

After several years in the wilderness, the Philippines’ tourism industry is beginning to enjoy an international renaissance which, combined with an ambitious domestic infrastructure spending spree, has the capacity to catapult the country into one of the region’s best performers over the next decade. A regional leader back in the 1970s, its...

Business inspired a modest 15% of international arrivals in the Philippines in 2010, according to Department of Tourism (DoT) statistics, which might go some way to explaining the country’s low stake in the international meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) market. However, as with much of the nascent international tourist...

The government’s stated aim of 10m international visitors by 2016 is ambitious, but one with attractive benefits for an economy that has long fallen short of its potential. Such a surge would raise tourism revenues in excess of P1.8trn ($40.8bn), equivalent to 7% of GDP, and generate 10m jobs, the benefits of which would cascade through the economy...

Although located in a region that includes several ostentatious and glitzy neighbours, Kuwait takes a different approach to attracting visitors. Nestled between Iraq and Saudi Arabia in the north-west corner of the Gulf, the country is turning itself into a regional centre of retail as well as culture.