Tourism

Bahrain is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Middle East with over two million tourists a year. Most of the visitors are from Arab states of the Persian Gulf but there are an increasing number of tourists from outside the region thanks to a growing awareness of the Kingdom’s rich heritage and its higher profile with regards to the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Lonely Planet describes Bahrain as “an excellent introduction to the Gulf because of its authentic Arab heritage and reputation as relatively liberal and modern. The Kingdom combines authentic Arab culture, contemporary Gulf glitz and the archaeological legacy of five thousand years of civilization. The ancient civilization of Dilmun, which dominated trade between Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley Civilization, was centered in Bahrain. The inhabitants of Dilmun left behind settlements and temples and tens of thousands of burial mounds which dot the landscape.
Dilmun prospered because it had fresh water, and it is this resource which has meant that Bahrain has long fought over by regional powers in a predominantly arid region. As a result, the island is home to many castles including the impressive Qalat Al Bahrain which was recently listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
The Bahrain National Museum has a wide-varied collection of artifacts from the Kingdom’s history dating back to the island’s first human inhabitation 9000 years ago.
The government of Bahrain is encouraging tourism development and has participated partially in the capital of developments such as Durrat Al Bahrain while many gulf nationals have relatives in Bahrain or vice versa, regional tourism is also a significant source of income to Bahrain. The government continues to contribute into large-scale tourism projects such as the Bahrain International Circuit, the only Formula One track in the Middle East when it opened in 2004, and has awarded tenders for several tourist complexes across the Kingdom.