Manama, (IINA) : Chief Executive of the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibition Authority Shaikh Khalid Al-Khalifa told Bahrain News Agency that the Kingdom’s efforts to modernize its tourism sector have yielded positive results as many upcoming projects speak volumes of the attractiveness of the sector.

The Kingdom of Bahrain’s tourism sector continues to be a hotspot for the foreign investments, thanks to major upcoming four-star properties and apartment developments across the Kingdom.

“We have four star hotels coming up soon with beach fronts and hotel apartments due to high demand and at the Tourism Authority we will continue to support inward investments,” Shaikh Khalid said on the sidelines of the press conference, adding currently there were seven five-star hotels in the pipeline.

Shaikh Khalid noted that he is looking forward for tourism investments coming up in Bahrain through the Bahrain-Pakistan Investment Forum that is taking place next week. He also said that Bahrain is keen to further develop its handicrafts sector in order to elevate the economic status of the families associated with this decades-old local industry.

“Bahrain is keen to develop traditional handicrafts sector aimed to elevate the living standards of the craftsmen,” Shaikh Khalid said as he highlighted the importance of cooperation with Morocco in this regard.

“The idea of exchange of experience between the two Kingdoms will help to elevate status of the handicrafts sector into small and medium enterprise (SME),” he added.

Shaikh Khalid said that the minister of industry, commerce and tourism who visited Morocco earlier this year focused on developing of the relationship between Morocco and Bahrain as well as enhancing cooperation in developing the handicrafts sector.

“Bahrain is keen to replicate successful model of the Kingdom of Morocco which enjoys 2.5 million local craftsmen whose livelihood directly linked to this sector. In next two months, we will host Moroccan experts who will conduct training and development programmes for Bahraini handicraftsmen. The long term training programme will include promoting, developing and packaging of their products.”

“The Authority is also launching a website – calendar.bh – that will have all the events in Bahrain such as entertainment, sports or culture. We will be having an average of two major events monthly making sure that the local people and tourists have something to look forward to. We are also launching an application called Bahrain Tour Guide, it will highlight all things to do as well as the major tourist attractions,” Shaikh Khalid added.