The Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, H.E. Mr. Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani headed BTEA’s third board meeting for the year 2018 held on Sunday 15th October 2018 at the Ministry’s headquarters.

During the meeting, the board reviewed and discussed several topics on the agenda including reviewing the financial reports dated up to 30 September 2018. The board praised the solid financial results and the growth achieved by BTEA during the previous months.

In addition, they discussed the tourism statistics for the first half of 2018 which revealed an increase in the number of inbound tourists, reaching a total of 5.9 million visitors, an increase of 5.8% compared to the same period last year.

The meeting also included a presentation discussing BTEA’s strategic projects which aim to attract tourists from all around the world in collaboration with its representative offices.

In addition, the board discussed the BTEA’s projects that aim to develop the Kingdom’s tourism infrastructure, including the development of the new exhibition and conference center located in Sakhir as well as beaches located in Galali and Bahrain Bay, leading to the surge of leisure tourism and improvement of water sports activities.

The proposal submitted by the BTEA to host the 109th United Nations World Tourism Organization Executive Council Meeting, which included the meeting agenda and plans for the accompanying conference, was also discussed during the meeting.

The board also expressed their gratitude to the management and employees of BTEA for their sincere efforts in achieving the authority’s plans in order to position the tourism and exhibitions sector as a main contributor to the national economy.