‘The opportunity outweighs the challenge’: Bahrain leads drive to restore tourism in the Gulf after eight months of conflict and collapsing visitor numbers | Fortune

Bahrain is spearheading a GCC-wide push to revive Gulf tourism through multi-country travel packages after eight months of conflict drove a collapse in visitor numbers. The six-member bloc is betting on cross-border itineraries to rebuild a market that generated more than $130 billion last year. The initiative comes as regional tourism operators look to offset the sustained downturn in arrivals caused by the conflict. Officials argue the opportunity outweighs the challenge, pointing to the scale of the pre-conflict market as justification for coordinated investment. Details on the size and timing of individual package launches have yet to be disclosed. The next test will be whether multi-country offerings can lure back international travelers and restore revenue toward last year's levels.