I couldn’t agree more with Kempinski Grand and Ixir Hotel Bahrain City Centre general manager Puneet Singh (‘Top hotelier urges new tourism push’, GDN, November 6). He is absolutely right when he says tourism is not being promoted properly in Bahrain.

There is nothing much to offer in Bahrain anyway in terms of tourism, but some of the world-class facilities and sights we have are not properly promoted.

There is no tourism infrastructure. There is no reliable public transport, no good taxi service, no recognised tourist guides, interpreters, brochures, no official information on what tourists should see, where they should go, how to reach various venues, its opening hours etc. Just some information available at the museum is not enough.

The Tree of Life is in a shambles (the project to ‘beautify’ it is long overdue) and the area around it is in a mess.

Bab Al Bahrain area’s buildings are crumbling, restaurants and coffee shops are fly-infested. Hotels (except in Seef and Juffair) have no customers. Fly-by-night taxi operators (illegal taxis) thrive and ‘guides’ fleece tourists along with taxi drivers. Manama shopowners, in their desperate bid to make a decent living, overcharge the few tourists who arrive and, the list is endless.

While Mr Singh might have called a spade a spade, this is what every hotelier in Bahrain will say. Many new hotels have suddenly sprung up, but where are the customers going to come from?

The government has taken some steps but a lot more needs to be done – and fast. Bahrain is a great nation with some remarkable sights which no tourist will travel thousands of miles to see if it is not properly promoted.

As for Press conferences abroad, the less said the better! Some official should take charge because hoteliers like Mr Singh and some others, who are doing their bit, cannot reach anywhere on their own. Someone has to take the proverbial bull by the horns and get going before it is too late.
Abdulla M H