‘Kingdom among fastest emerging tourist destinations for Americans’

Americans coming to the Kingdom for business and leisure tourism have increased in the recent years with last year’s number reaching 50,000, American Ambassador Justin Siberell said. He was speaking at an event titled ‘Innovation in Tourism - Building the Tourism Sector for the Savvy Travellers’, organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Bahrain (Amcham) in coordination with the American Embassy yesterday at The Ritz Carlton.

“We have a vibrant American community here and we have many Americans who are coming to visit here as well. More Americans are coming to Bahrain as a tourism destination, be it from the United States or other countries.” Speaking about tourists from the Middle East region to the United States, he said, “According to the United States national tourism office, we have nearly 77 million international visitors and about 1.2 million came from this region.

The tourism industry is a vital component of the American economy.” In terms of citizens and residents of Bahrain visiting the US, he said, “Each year, more than 11,000 people including Bahrainis and residents of the Kingdom visit the embassy seeking visas. We have taken significant strides over the last year to ease the visa process to make it even more streamlined.