Authorities in Bahrain have claimed that 2100 nationals were recruited into the hospitality sector in 2014, representing a 23% increase in Bahrainisation.
According to Bahrain News Agency, meanwhile, the total local manpower in the tourism sector as a whole increased by 6% compared to 2013.
The figures are a part of a tranche of data released by the Minister of Industry and Commerce, which also show that occupancy rates at hotels in the country hit 50.2% in 2014, up 5.2 percentage points on the previous year.
Furthermore, overall revenues grew by 17.37% per cent last year to top BD228 Million (US $604.63), with visitor numbers up 11.1% to 10 million.
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Of these visitors, six million came from Saudi Arabia, up 19.3% on 2013, representing the overwhelming majority of the 6.6 million visitors who came from GCC countries (up 16.8%).
According to the report, there are a total of 119 hotels in Bahrain, including 15 five-star hotels, 43 four-star hotels, 35 three-star hotels, 14 two-star hotels, two one-star hotels and five resorts.
The government of Bahrain last year launched an attempt to change misconceptions among local citizens about working in the hospitality sector by announcing a new training institute.
It is set to be part of a five-year strategy to get more Bahrainis to find jobs in hospitality.
At the time, Labour Minister Jameel Humaidan pointed that, while the Bahrainisation rate in the hospitality sector was 33% ten years ago, it had since dropped to 15%.
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