NEWS
WEDDINGS AND WATER THE BIG DRAWS FOR BAHRAIN
Franki Berry, digital reporter
MOSCOW BIDDING TO ATTRACT MORE BRITS
Madeleine Barber
The Moscow City Tourism Committee (EU1950) is aiming to attract more visitors from the UK at a time when tourism to the Russian city is booming. In the first half of 2019, Moscow
welcomed 11.5 million arrivals, a 32.4% increase year-on-year, with the majority of tourists travelling from China, Germany, France, Italy and Israel. “We are interested in strengthening the dialogue between the tourism industries in Moscow and Great Britain,” said the organisation’s chairman, Ekaterina Pronicheva. “That is why it is important for us to participate in such major tourism events as WTM London.” The committee will present Moscow as a “modern and comfortable metropolis filled with history and culture” at this year’s event. New visitor highlights include hip hangout DEPO – one of the biggest food halls in Europe – which opened earlier this year, last month’s unveiling of Dream Island theme park and 10 new river trams to help visitors navigate the city. The launch of a Wizz Air flight from
London to Moscow on 1 October now offers a cheaper travel alternative for Brits, which will appeal to millennial travellers under the age of 34 – a demographic the committee says makes up 63.6% of its arrivals. “Moscow has made a huge step in the
development of transport and public infrastructure, giving tourists the chance to experience the city with the maximum level of comfort,” said Pronicheva.
Weddings in the Kingdom of Bahrain have contributed millions of US dollars to its economy in a matter of months, with the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) (ME550) revealing just four weddings between November 2018 and February 2019 contributed $5 million to the island’s GDP. This follows marketing initiatives
designed to encourage people to consider the island as a wedding destination. BTEA’s tourism adviser, acting director
of marketing and tourism, Ali Hasan Follad, said: “By hosting wedding planners and organisers from countries around the world, it has enabled them to experience first-hand the Kingdom’s laid-back island lifestyle and get a glimpse of the luxury hotel chains and venues as the backdrop for the picture-perfect wedding.” Visitor numbers to Bahrain increased by nearly 6% in 2018 to 12 million, and BTEA expects this trend to continue in 2019, with 12.7 million international visitors predicted by the end of this year. Follad said: “A key goal is to increase
the contribution of the tourism sector to the Kingdom’s GDP by developing a unique tourism offering that distinguishes Bahrain from its regional competitors.” One of these attractions is the world’s
REMOTE MOUNTAIN RESORT’S UPWARD TREND
The number of people visiting a remote mountain resort in Greece has increased by about 10% in recent years. Around 10,500 people visited the Aristi Mountain Resort and Villas (EU110), nestled in one of Zagori’s national parks, in 2018, up 10% on 2017. About half of visitors are Greek and the
rest from Israel, France, the UK and US. Manager Paola Janara hopes visitor numbers will continue to increase: “Our
aim is to continuously improve and keep our high standards. We would like to reach more travel agents,” she said. The destination, under consideration
to be a Unesco World Heritage Site, has just released new hiking trails across sites including Spiliotissa Monastery, Kleidona Bridge, Mikro Papigo and Monodendri. The resort is around 50 minutes by
car from Ioannina airport and 2½ hours from Thessaloniki airport.
04.11.2019 WTM OFFICIAL EVENT DAILY 27
largest underwater theme park, which opened in September. The centrepiece, Dive Bahrain, is a decommissioned Boeing 747 – the largest aircraft ever to be intentionally submerged. There is also a Bahraini pearl merchant’s house, artificial coral reefs and other eco- friendly sculptures in the huge dive site. Chairman and minister of industry,
commerce and tourism on the BTEA board, Zayed bin Rashid Al Zayani, said: “The new theme park will undoubtedly emerge as a global tourist attraction. It also aims to revive the Kingdom’s marine eco-system and to preserve the local marine environment.” The Dilmun Burial Mounds in
western Bahrain were also listed as a Unesco World Heritage Site by the World Heritage Committee in July.
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