Several senior officials from the Tourism Sector and Ministry of Works recently toured Bab Al Bahrain and the traditional cafes at Manama Souq and inspected the ongoing Manama Souq development project work.

It is one of the Ministry of Culture's leading projects aimed at developing tourism in Bahrain.

The team led by Nada Ahmed Yaseen, assistant undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture-Tourism sector, and Nayef Omar Al Kalali, undersecretary of the Ministry of Works also inspected a number of roads leading to the traditional cafes in the market.

Besides they also met a group of locals and cafe owners to understand their requirements in order to develop the traditional cafes in the area.

Nada Yaseen stressed the importance of preserving Bab Al Bahrain and the Old Manama Souq in light of their extremely important strategic value located in the heart of the capital and one of Bahrain's tourist and commercial landmarks.

"The development project is aimed at reviving the commercial and tourist activity in the Old Manama Souq, taking into account that Manama has been selected as the Capital of Arab Culture 2012 and the Capital of Arab Tourism 2013," she remarked.

Yaseen said that since last September, her ministry had been working on reviving the Manama Souq area making it an essential tourist attraction, mainly for cruise line tourists through musical performances by both Mohammed Bin Fairs traditional Band as well as the 13th Note band.

In addition the Ministry of Culture- Tourism sector has also provided a site for “Ta’a el Shabab” within the Souq aimed at bringing the youth back into the traditional Souq, she added.

Al Kalali said the Ministry of Works was working closely with the Ministry of Culture - Tourism Sector to ensure that the development project will harmonize with the traditional character of the Old Souq while highlighting its unique architecture.

"The project will provide all the necessary services and infrastructure requirements to make it the destination landmark for visitors and tourists. Praising the efforts that have sought out to maintain the traditional feel of the Souq," he added.

The delegation included Hameed Rahma, assistant undersecretary for Domestic Trade, Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Ahmed Nemat Ali, assistant undersecretary for Aviation Services of the Civil Aviation Affairs, Dr Abdulla Al Sulati, director of Heritage and Culture at the Ministry of Culture and Sufyan Khalid Al Moayyed, chairman of the Association of Bahrain Travel and Tourism Agents.-TradeArabia News Service