Wego to help promote Bahrain for premium travel

Wego, the travel app and the online travel marketplace, has partnered with Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority (BTEA) to spotlight the Kingdom of Bahrain as a premier travel destination, highlighting its unique cultural heritage, top attractions, and tourism innovations to global travellers. This partnership comes as Bahrain is investing in its tourism infrastructure with the launch of new luxury resorts, event venues, and expanded cultural festivals.

Bahrain, known as the Pearl of the Gulf, is an archipelago offering history, luxury, and modernity. Wego will leverage its platform to highlight Bahrain's landmarks, including the UNESCO-listed Qal'at al-Bahrain (قلعة البحرين, Bahrain Fort), the Bab Al Bahrain Souq (باب البحرين), the Al Dar Islands (الجزر الدار), and the world-famous Bahrain International Circuit, home of Formula 1 racing.

Source: Wego. View of Bahrain.

Mamoun Hmidan, Chief Business Officer at Wego said: "We are thrilled to collaborate with the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority to showcase the Kingdom's unique offerings to our global audience. Bahrain is a treasure trove of cultural, natural, and modern attractions, and through this partnership, we aim to inspire travellers to explore this dynamic destination."

Travellers will also be introduced to Bahrain's tourism initiatives, such as virtual tours and smart city solutions enhancing visitor convenience. Additionally, Bahrain's commitment to ecotourism is evident in its focus on preserving natural habitats like the unique Hawar Islands (جزر حوار) and offering experiences such as pearl diving and marine conservation tours.

Maryam Toorani Director, Marketing and Promotion at Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority added: "This partnership with Wego allows us to reach thousands of travellers and highlight Bahrain as a must-visit destination. From its historical landmarks to its forward-thinking tourism innovations, Bahrain has something to offer every type of traveller."

Wego also offers WegoPro, corporate travel and expense management solutions for businesses.

Investors show confidence in crypto investment platform CoinMENA

Bahrain-headquartered CoinMENA has secured US$9.5M in its first seed funding round from investors such as BECO Capital, Kenetic, Arab Bank Switzerland, Bunat Ventures, Alameda Research, Rua Growth Fund and Girnas Capital.

Launched in early 2021 by Dina Saman, Talal Tabbaa, and Yazan Barghuthi, CoinMENA was built primarily to address a market gap that existed for easy and safe access to crypto investing. The onshore crypto exchange is licensed by the Central Bank of Bahrain, and has inked an agreement with the Dubai World Trade Centre to build the next Blockchain and crypto hub in the UAE.

CoinMENA's co-founders said, "With growing awareness about crypto assets and their transformative potential, appetite from both retail and institutional investors in the MENA region is growing at a rapid pace. Our strategic capital partnerships provide support for our vision to increase the adoption of crypto assets in the region in a regulated and seamless manner. We believe that this is a positive outlook for the crypto assets sector over the coming years both locally and globally."

Dany Farha, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of BECO Capital, stated, "We had been searching for a while for the combination of the strength of the team and depth of vision that the team at CoinMENA set out to build. We are very excited to partner with this stellar team in delivering financial inclusion, investing, and saving in a crypto native manner, in a hyper-local manner, all whilst being regulated and adhering to the highest levels of governance and compliance for all stakeholders."

Rani Jabban, MD, Arab Bank Switzerland, the sister company of Arab Bank, commented, "As a pioneering bank in digital assets with a strong foothold in the Middle East, we believe that our strategic partnership with CoinMENA will pave the way forward for greater adoption in the region."

Jehan Chu, Founder of Kenetic, said, "CoinMENA is positioned for explosive growth, and Kenetic is excited to lend our extensive experience and deep network to support them as they provide superior crypto liquidity and user experience in a new era of digital finance throughout the MENA region."

CoinMENA's investor BECO Capital is a technology-focused venture capital whose investments include MENA's three unicorns: Swvl, Kitopi, and Careem. Hong Kong's Kenetic is known for its investment in BlockFi, a crypto lending platform, and Securitize, a digital asset securities firm. Bunat Ventures is a venture builder and venture capitalist (VC) firm focused on incubating and investing in promising regional startups. Alameda Research, owned by crypto billionaire Sam-Bankman Fried, is a quantitative cryptocurrency trading firm that provides liquidity in cryptocurrency and digital assets markets.

CoinMENA's sign-up process can be done on its mobile app. The exchange's services are currently available to residents of Bahrain, UAE, KSA, Kuwait, and Oman.

Gulf Air announces summer 2018 schedule

Source: Gulf Air. Plane in Gulf Air livery.

Gulf Air, the kingdom of Bahrain’s national carrier, has rolled out its 2018 Summer Schedule, increasing capacity and flights to and from several popular destinations during the upcoming peak travel period between mid-June and mid-September 2018.

Gulf Air flights to the Jordanian capital Amman will increase to triple daily, while flights to the Lebanese capital Beirut will increase to double daily. The popular summer destination of Istanbul in Turkey will be served with 12 weekly flights during the peak summer period while flights to Baghdad in Iraq are now permanently increased to a five-weekly service. Additionally, the airline’s flights to Multan in Pakistan have already increased to five weekly. 

Regionally, the airline’s upcoming network expansion will see it launch five weekly flights to Abha and Tabuk in KSA from 15 June. In India, Gulf Air has expanded to include daily flights to Bangalore from 1 May and seven flights weekly to Calicut from 15 June. Alongside this, the airline will offer five weekly flights to Baku in Azerbaijan from 12 June.

Gulf Air CEO Krešimir Kučko commented, “Not only will our upcoming network additions better connect our valued passengers to the places and people that matter the most, our Summer 2018 Schedule will see us increase flights to several popular destinations during the peak summer travel period between mid-June and mid-September 2018. The frequency and capacity increases that Gulf Air will implement in the coming months are in response to the demand on these key routes. 

"Gulf Air’s summer schedule provides greater choice of flights and greater capacity to carry more passengers during the busy summer holiday period. This will also serve to strengthen the kingdom of Bahrain’s strategic business and tourism links and facilitate enhanced connectivity for passengers travelling across the Gulf Air network, to and from Bahrain.”

In 2018, Gulf Air’s network will serve 49 cities in 26 countries.

Macau passport holders can now get on-arrival visas to Bahrain

The Bahrain Interior Ministry Undersecretary of Nationality, Passport and Residence Affairs (NPRA), Shaikh Rashid bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, has announced that Macau is now part of the list of countries and territories covered in on-arrival visas. This increases the number of countries and territories to 114. 

Macau passport holders can get on-arrival visas at the Kingdom's various ports, logging into the e-visa website or by applying for visas through the Bahrain Embassy in Beijing.

Al Khalifa highlighted that the NPRA continues to develop and improve facilities to meet the inspirations of the Kingdom's leadership of making Bahrain a destination for investors and tourists and the creation of an appropriate environment for economic activities for local and foreign companies.

TAKAUD to host inaugural Middle East Pensions Conference

Source: Middle East Pensions Conference website.

Under the patronage of the Central Bank of Bahrain, TAKAUD, the specialist provider of savings, investment and pension solutions for the MENA region, is bringing together government and financial services industry leaders concerned with the development of a robust pension provision for citizens and expatriate workers throughout the region.

The inaugural Middle East Pensions Conference will be held in Bahrain on October 18, 2016 to raise awareness and initiate action to bring the Middle East to the standard of developed countries, with pensions encompassing three sectors: the government sector providing the first layer of pension provision to citizens; the corporate sector providing a second layer of workplace pension savings to employees; and individuals themselves providing a third layer of personal savings to augment their standard of living in retirement. This three-pillar pension format is in line with the World Bank’s recommendations for an integrated pension infrastructure, and also ensures more secure and sustainable pension planning for individuals.

While GCC countries are already highly developed with respect to government pension benefits for citizens, the inaugural pensions conference will address current challenges and the advantages of enhancing pension savings benefits provided by corporations. Studies by several global employee benefits specialists show that pension benefits are highly effective in promoting employee retention and loyalty; hence enhancing productivity levels. The conference will also look at the existing expertise, systems, specialist firms, products and collaborations that could potentially build a home-grown solution that expands the regional pension industry and address local needs.

According to TAKAUD, private sector pensions are a US$30 billion industry in the Middle East. The company estimates that pension assets in the GCC can reach US$1.9 trillion if retirement savings among individuals and corporations grow to the average levels now seen in other countries. TAKAUD’s Chief Executive Officer Luc Metivier said, “The prospect of a secure retirement is essential to the well-being of individuals and families. To develop a culture supportive of retirement savings, we need concerted actions by the government, corporate and financial services sectors. With appropriate regulatory and statutory standards, technology systems and options for asset diversification, this region can match international standards and provide exceptional security to our valued workforce.”

The event is expected to attract delegates from government pension administrations, pension funds, asset management firms, actuaries, law firms, custodians, trust providers and financial services professionals. It is also of interest to executives and senior specialists in human resources, compensation and benefits and staff running employee savings schemes.

Interested?

The Middle East Pensions Conference will be held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Manama, Bahrain on 18 October 2016. Register

Bahrain joins Cruise Arabia Alliance

Bahrain has become the latest country to confirm its commitment to the Cruise Arabia Alliance, which now has membership from the UAE emirates Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah, as well as Qatar and Oman. The alliance encourages its members to share best practices and ensure a region-wide level of service and standards offered to both the cruise lines and their passengers.

The announcement was made at the Seatrade Middle East Cruise Forum, which was held in Doha, Qatar and hosted by Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA). The announcement was made in conjunction with Bahrain announcing it would be complementing the 2015/2016 cruise season with 68,000 passengers and 32 calls from major cruise lines.

The QTA also stated that Qatar is expecting a three-fold increase in passengers next season. Thirty cruise ships will be bringing up to 50,000 passengers to Doha between October 2016 and April 2017 - up from the eight calls scheduled this season.

Hassan Al Ibrahim, QTA’s Chief Tourism Development Officer, said: “Qatar places huge importance on the cruise industry, both to diversify the tourism sector and Qatar’s overall economy. There are long-term plans to upgrade the country’s infrastructure, all of which will enable us to tap into the potential of cruise tourism by developing Qatar’s ports.

“We are building our infrastructure and human capital; we have a new destination brand that consolidates the industry’s efforts to attract more visitors; and, we are diversifying and enhancing the products and services across the entire industry.

“For our part, QTA is working with partners across the public and private sectors, to plan, regulate, develop and promote the tourism sector, with the aim of achieving growth that is both exponential and sustainable.”

He added: “QTA is committed to providing at least 6,000 rooms on cruise ships for the 2022 FIFA World Cup competition - in the redeveloped Doha Port – reinforcing cruise tourism as one of our most exciting and enduring legacies.”

The Forum confirmed that the Arabian Gulf is now the third most popular winter cruising destination with one million cruise passenger visits expected in GCC countries during the 2015 to 2016 season.

Chris Hayman, Chairman of Seatrade, organisers of the Forum, said: “Over the two days of the Forum, we have repeatedly heard from tourism and ports authorities across the region that the cruise industry has been identified as a crucial area for growth in the coming years and that many see this sector as an engine for sustainable development of their economies, and as an important pillar that supports efforts to limit dependence on natural energy resources as a driver of GDP.”

To achieve this, Hayman highlighted the significance of the Cruise Arabia alliance which is committed to its members working together with the common goal of growing cruise tourism and tackling the challenges faced, whilst taking advantage of the opportunities that will arise in the coming years.

Amongst the challenges discussed is the importance of each destination to create shore excursions that are diverse and offer unique onshore opportunities for cruise line passengers. The question of obtaining visas was also flagged as a challenge but was felt that each destination was developing wider flexibility and this had been well addressed since the last Forum in 2015. Security was also highlighted as a potential challenge as perceptions of passengers unfamiliar with the region had been influenced by international media coverage. However, it was felt that passengers who have visited the Arabian Gulf for themselves understand that it is a safe area with tight security, and can be ambassadors in promoting the region. 

Gulf Air extends direct presence to four cities in North Pakistan

Source: Gulf Air.

Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, has officially opened four new sales offices in the north Pakistani cities of Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and Sialkot. 

Gulf Air operates direct flights between Bahrain and the Pakistani cities of Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Sialkot with 23 flights a week in total. Flights to and from Pakistan can be booked either online at gulfair.com, through the airline’s 24 hour Worldwide Contact Centre on +973 1737 3737, through any Gulf Air sales office or at approved travel agencies.

The new offices will manage passengers’ ticketing and sales requirements and respond to any general enquiries. The new Gulf Air offices in Pakistan can be found at:

Gulf Air, Islamabad
Unit 1-A, Shahid Plaza, 

Blue Area Jinnah Avenue F-6/4, 

Islamabad.
Tel: +92 512 8100 2832

Gulf Air, Karachi
1st Floor, Kashif Centre, 

Shahrah-e-Faisal, 

Karachi.
Tel: +92 21 5675 2316

Gulf Air, Lahore
Lufthansa House 5-G/2, 

Block H, Gulberg II, 

Lahore.
Tel: +92 423 5763 4569

Gulf Air, Peshawar
UG-46, Deans Trade Centre, 

Peshawar Cantt
Tel: +92 9 1556 0778

Gulf Air, Sialkot
10 Ground Floor, 

Abdullah Trade Centre, Kutchery Road, 

Sialkot.
Tel: +92 524 2684 2831

Gulf Air increases flights for summer

As part of its new summer* schedule, the Kingdom of Bahrain’s national carrier Gulf Air will increase its flights to and from Amman, Beirut, and Bangkok among other cities during the upcoming peak summer travel period and until September 2015.

This follows the airline’s recent announcement of its enhanced Istanbul summer schedule, which now offers a choice of up to seven weekly flights during the summer period.

The frequency increase will provide greater choice of flights and enhanced connectivity for passengers travelling across the Gulf Air network with multiple daily flights to Amman, nine weekly flights to Beirut, and daily flights to Bangkok.

Gulf Air’s Acting Chief Commercial Officer, Ahmed Janahi said: "With the summer holidays upon us we are seeing an increase in travel demand to some of the airline’s most popular destinations. Our additional flights across the Gulf Air network are key to strengthening our strategic business and tourism links. These additional frequencies allow greater connectivity for passengers travelling across our extensive network including key destinations in Europe, the MENA region and Asia, via Bahrain International Airport while facilitating movement to and from the Kingdom of Bahrain.”

*See this blog's timeframe for summer