Seminar coordinator: Head of the Economics Department, Omar Al-Kaabneh, Nada Al-Mirbati – Seminar management: Omar Al-Kaabneh – Directed and implemented by the supplement: Production Department
Seminar coordinator: Head of the Economics Department, Omar Al-Kaabneh, Nada Al-Mirbati – Seminar management: Omar Al-Kaabneh – Directed and implemented by the supplement: Production Department
The Chairman of the Hospitality and Tourism Committee of the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Jihad Amin, stated that Bahrain is very prepared to be a station for the “MICE” industry, the short word for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions, because Bahrain has a very beautiful and integrated infrastructure to serve this type of tourism, and we have hotels, we have a network Suitable roads, and we have an exhibition center that is considered the best for the region as a whole and has recently won international awards. During the past two years, we have noticed a great interest from the leadership in this sector. The Ministry of Tourism was separated from Industry and Trade, and became an independent ministry. The Tourism and Exhibitions Authority was recently restructured, and this All of these are indicators that the leadership places tourism among its priorities in the plan for economic recovery and diversifying sources of income, and this is what our wise leadership is thankful for.
He added that all the projects carried out by the Tourism and Exhibitions Authority are under the direct supervision of His Highness the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, so all the ingredients are in place, and we come to the implementation process. Today we have a specialized team in the exhibition center whose mission is to market and attract these exhibitions and conferences to Bahrain, and the role of the Chamber is the role of Complementary to these efforts, pointing out that there was an agreement to form a joint working team between the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Tourism and Exhibitions Authority, at the highest levels, for continuous coordination and periodic meetings to resolve any problems or obstacles to the development of this sector.
Amin pointed out that due to the recent changes in the Tourism and Exhibitions Authority, we are still waiting for the activation of the joint work team, and there are many matters that we are waiting to discuss with the Tourism and Exhibitions Authority. We hope that these consultations and meetings will begin soon, and one of the most important of these matters on the agenda is a topic for him. Relationship with legislation, there is a demand to regulate the work of companies and entities operating in this sector, so that the companies that organize these exhibitions must be classified and their content coordinated so that the picture is clear to all parties when we go out to market Bahrain as a destination for these exhibitions.
He continued, “There must be clear coordination and specific priorities to facilitate the process. When we talk about the request to classify these companies or the size of the exhibitions that are organized, this falls within the scope of protecting this industry, although we in Bahrain hope that the number of these exhibitions will increase and their content will be varied. No.” We must also be careful that any company applying to hold an exhibition has sufficient capacity and experience, because if we allow any company to organize an exhibition and it is unable to mobilize enough participants and visitors, the results will be negative, and this will reflect negatively on the general image of the Kingdom, and therefore we must We must ensure that every organizing company that applies for a license to hold an exhibition, the authority responsible for licensing is fully aware that this company has the necessary capabilities and experience, who are invited, what is the content of the exhibition, and how it is marketed. Perhaps it would be better to impose some type of insurance so that there is Greater commitment from the regulator.
An invitation from the Chamber to discuss “tourism” taxes
Amin stated that adding fees and taxes in an ill-advised manner would be harmful, and we hope that there will be room to evaluate these fees from time to time, and that they will be dynamic. If we see that it harms the main goal of increasing the number of visitors, there should be a reconsideration of it, noting that it is true that most countries impose different types of taxes and fees, but we must look at our local situation in particular. Duties and taxes imposed in other countries are not necessarily relevant to our implementation.
Amin added, these taxes and fees must be evaluated in a way that serves the sector, and that there are many complaints from hotels with five stars and less, who find that these fees that were recently approved have harmed their business, hoping that the Tourism and Exhibitions Authority and the competent authorities will periodically re-evaluate what was recently imposed. If it deems it appropriate, it will continue, and if there is damage to these facilities, it will be reconsidered.
He stressed that there is an invitation that will be issued soon by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry to all stakeholders from the hotel and restaurant sector and others before the end of June, specializing in looking into these issues with the participation of the Tourism and Exhibitions Authority, on the basis that there will be room to re-evaluate fees and taxes, and this is something that the Chamber of Commerce seeks. To achieve it.
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