Bahrain's hotel industry is showing signs of picking up as visitors feel more confident about staying in the country - despite another major exhibition being cancelled.

Hotel occupancy rates have risen to between 20 and 30 per cent over the weekend, said Five Star Hotels committee chairman Abdulrahman Al Morshed.

'Things have slightly improved over the weekend, with more confidence being built up about Bahrain. However, it has slipped again now that the weekend is over.'

The comments follow reports that Bahrain International Travel Expo (BITE) had been cancelled, which was set to generate a much-needed income for the beleaguered industry, among the worst hit by the unrest.

'There was some doubt on having the expo in the first place and the decision to cancel it was made long before the unrest.

'If it had still been going ahead as usual, it would have had an effect on operations in the hotels.'

BITE was due on May 12, but organisers reportedly denied its cancellation had anything to do with the unrest.

However, organisers who initially promised to speak to our sister newspaper Gulf Daily News (GDN) could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Previous BITE events since 2005 have featured 120 exhibitors and attracted more than 18,000 visitors.-TradeArabia News Service