Bahrain saw a 20 per cent increase in visitors over the last week as GCC nationals flocked to the kingdom to celebrate Eid, according to official figures.

A total of 240,702 people entered Bahrain during the seven days to Wednesday, the Nationality, Passports and Residence Affairs exits, search and follow-up assistant under-secretary revealed yesterday (July 31), reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

Of the visitors, 204,935 arrived via the King Fahad Causeway, 35,536 through Bahrain International Airport and 231 through Khalifa Bin Salman Port.

This number is an increased of 48,428 on the previous week, when 192,374 people were recorded - between July 17 and 23.

However, the number of visitors was a decrease of 10pc compared with Eid last year.

Motorists on the King Fahad Causeway complained of long waiting times and huge tailbacks as the journey time, which can be as less as 30 minutes on a quiet day, stretched to six hours. – TradeArabia News Service