Although the unrest of 2011 has had a knock-on effect in many sectors of the economy, one area which has held up relatively well has been the hotel segment. During the rapid economic growth in Bahrain in the 2000s, a great deal of money found its way into real estate, and within that sector, the hotel industry offered promising returns.
In many ways, Bahrain has traditionally been something of a trailblazer in the region. It was the first country in the Gulf to discover oil, and, given the relatively small size of its reserves, was the first to establish a tourism industry as a means to diversify its economy. In the 1970s and 1980s, Bahrain positioned itself as the conference,...
As part of its efforts to relaunch its tourism industry and differentiate itself from other Gulf destinations, Bahrain is looking to move into the lucrative cruise ship market. As many other small island nations have found, the cruise industry offers several advantages. First, it tends to attract customers from the higher end of the income spectrum...
Bahrain has remained largely insulated from international external risks and has weathered the global economic shocks of the recent past relatively well. At the height of the international financial downturn, for example, the kingdom avoided falling into recession and even achieved real GDP growth of more than 6% in 2008 and over 3% in 2009.
The Olympics have often served as international coming-out parties for host nations with emerging economies. Games held in Japan (1964), South Korea (1988) and China (2008) showed that hosting the Olympics and Paralympics can help establish or redefine a country’s global status. Having applied for Istanbul to host the 2020 Summer Games, and...
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