Tertiary industries are Bahrain’s best hope to create employment for nationals, says Bruce Hall. These sectors include tourism, financial and banking services.

“A big potential sector for development is tourism. We have a beautiful country.  European travellers look for sunshine and we can guarantee them that more than eight months a year,” he says.
Since the tourism sector is so labour intensive, it can provide jobs for thousands of Bahrainis.
“Employees do not have to have degrees to work in tourism. The friendly and English-speaking Bahrainis already have the necessary attributes to work in the industry. The tourism dollar is an imported income,’’ he says.
The development of these industries will solve dependence on the expatriate labour force and free companies from the burden of visa charges as proposed by the McKensy report, adds Hall.
“When the visa fees are increased, actually the bottom lines of the companies and individuals are punished. This will have a knock-on impact on the cost of products and services.
“With tourism, we are developing a labour-intensive industry, clearly obtained from Bahrain and the cost of labour is met by the consumer, who is a tourist willing to pay for a good service.” <