Hassan Al -Sitry
Tourism Minister Fatima Al -Serafi stated that 74% of the tour guides hold Bahraini citizenship, and that they are all accredited and licensed by the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority, explaining that this percentage was achieved by the end of 2024.
This came, in response to the question of Representative Mohamed Janahi in the session of the House of Representatives, yesterday, where she confirmed that the “Fatil” hospitality college is accredited in Bahrain, and that all students enjoy work opportunities during their studies, noting that 62% of the graduates of the Bahrainio college nationality, and work in the hotel and hospitality sectors, which reflects the importance of this sector and the ministry and the authority’s keenness to integrate national cadres within it, in line with the plan Strategy for Tourism launched in 2022.
The minister added that she praises what the deputy presented on Fatil College, which currently provides a Bachelor’s degree, and works to launch a master’s program soon, explaining that a feasibility study is prepared in cooperation with specialists in the tourism sector locally and internationally to provide short -term courses that exceed academic certificates, to include specialized training for Bahrainis, which is part of the authority’s priorities.
Al -Serafi dealt with the developments witnessed by the Training Tourism Training System in 2023 by cooperating with the World Tourism Organization to ensure a comprehensive training in coordination with the competent government agencies, stressing the importance of oversight as an essential part of the authority’s interests.
She added that the separation of the Licensing Department from the Control Department in 2023 comes within this direction. It also revealed that the ministry is working to issue a new decision that includes clear control tools to reduce abuses.
Regarding Resolution 3 of 2005 regarding the organization of the tourist guidance profession, she explained that the decision gives priority to Bahrainis, but it allows in its seventh article to the authority to grant exceptional licenses to non -Bahrainis in certain cases such as the need to provide services in languages that local counselors do not master, especially in light of the targeting of tourists from European countries within the tourism plan.
The Minister concluded by certainly that the ministry pays great attention to integrating the Bahrainis into this sector since the beginning of the legislative term in 2022, noting that reaching 74% of Bahraini guides is an unprecedented achievement. She said, “We will continue to work and cooperate with your distinguished council to update the mechanisms of tourist guidance in Bahrain.”
In response to the question of MP Basma Mubarak, Al -Serafi explained that there are no foreigners in the ministry, and we do not have employees with temporary contracts, and there is a difference between the Ministry of Tourism and the Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority, the Minister of Tourism is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Authority, and the Ministry of Tourism has 5 Bahrainis, while the authority has 117 employees, all of whom are Bahraini.
It responded to a third question for MP Hassan Boukhamas, that the tourism sector is one of the sectors in the development of the economy, and the number of inspectors was 7 at the beginning of the legislative separation, and today it reached 18 inspectors, and we separated the licensing department from the control department, so that there will be an independent administration for the latter, stressing that the ministry attaches importance to periodic visits, with a great interest in the fourth of the capital for its importance in providing the tourism sector.
