Seven leading companies representing the hotel, travel and tourism, and airline industries in Bahrain were supported by the Culture Ministry's Tourism Affairs at a major MICE event in Spain.

EIBTM 2011, one of the world's largest exhibitions for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) in the world, was held in Barcelona and attracted over 14,000 industry professionals from across the globe.

Co-exhibitors in the EIBTM 2011 Bahrain Pavilion included Gulf Hotel, InterContinental Regency Bahrain, Gulf Air, Mathias Tourism Company, Events@Bahrain, Royal Gulf Club and Travel and Tourism News magazine published by Al Hilal Publishing and Marketing Group.

The ministry confirmed that there had been strong interest from the international MICE community in Bahrain's participation in a briefing session with participating companies, held at Bahrain Fort Museum.

"Our prime objective was to showcase Bahrain's abundant historic and cultural landmarks that complement its first-rate tourism infrastructure and advanced network of auxiliary services and facilities - enabling the kingdom to attract and successfully host some of the world's most prestigious international events and MICE business, in addition to exchanging expertise and establishing partnerships to boost the kingdom's tourism sector," said assistant under-secretary for tourism Nada Ahmed Yaseen.

"Having Manama named the Arab Capital of Culture for 2012 and the Arab Capital of Tourism in 2013 came as a result of Bahrain's successful track record in organising and hosting high-profile events, including Formula 1, the Spring of Culture, the Bahrain International Airshow, Cisco Networkers, and the Bahrain International Music Festival, all of which demonstrate the kingdom's leading position in the area on the international scene," she added.

"We are doubling up our ongoing efforts to partner with and support the private sector in its endeavours to promote Bahrain's position as destination of choice on the regional and international level over the next period," Yaseen added.

"As the largest network carrier in the Middle East, Bahrain's national airline Gulf Air provides easy access to some of the key tourism and cultural centres in the region in addition to enabling businesses to reach out to primary and secondary cities with its excellent connectivity via its Bahrain hub," said Gulf Air chief executive officer Samer Majali.

"We were pleased to join hands with Tourism Affairs to promote the kingdom in this popular event.

"With Gulf Air in the midst of major initiatives such as route expansions, retrofitting of its fleet interiors, state-of-the-art in-flight entertainment system, and new passenger lounges, we believe EIBTM 2011 was an ideal platform for us to showcase our award-winning products and services," Majali added. – TradeArabia News Service