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Bahrain's Labour Fund is participating for the first time in the Bahrain International Travel Expo (BITE 2008) which officially launched at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre.
Executives will be organising a seminar to highlight its role in supporting the private sector and the tourism industry in particular by providing career opportunities.
The seminar will be held on the last day of the Expo - on Saturday between 12.30pm and 2.30pm. The Labour Fund will also have a booth dedicated to explain current workforce developments and to display the programmes that Bahraini job-seekers could benefit from as well as private sector support initiatives.
'BITE is the first business-to-consumer travel and tourism event in the region,' said Jamil Wafa, group chairman of Magnum Holdings, the parent company of Magnum Events and Exhibitions Management MEEM, the organisers of BITE 2008.
'It is as much for businesses as it is for the consumers offering a huge variety of services, choices and special deals. Every year we make new additions with new participants which make the Expo very dynamic and exciting!
'When we first launched BITE four years ago, we started with 1,000 sq m of space and 12,500 visitors - this year it has grown to 8,000 sq m and we are expecting approximately 20,000.'
Bahrain Training Institute (BTI), which has recently received a licence from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) allowing it to operate as an authorised training centre, is also participating in BITE for the first time. The BTI will be launching its newly-established 'Travel Academy' at the exhibition.
Countries participating for the first time in BITE 2008 are the UAE, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Ethiopia, Hungary, Indonesia, Japan, Morocco, Oman, Spain, Sweden and Tunisia. Previous participants returning are Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Brunei, China, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Kuwait, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Monaco, Poland, Qatar, Russia, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Syria, Thailand, The Netherlands, Turkey, UK and the US.
The exhibition will be inaugurated today by the Crown Prince and BDF Commander-in-Chief Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, and this year's exhibition will open to the consumers and visitors from tomorrow to Saturday. A floor plan is featured below.
A 'Hosted Buyers Programme' will run alongside the exhibition, which facilitates structured networking sessions between local tourism professionals and international MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences & Exhibitions) specialists.
The motto for BITE is still 'Bringing the World to Bahrain' reiterated Mr Wafa. A total of 120 exhibitors, 110 Hosted Buyers and international media from 44 countries will be participating at BITE 2008. The exhibition encompasses a wide variety of sectors ranging from airlines to car rental companies, conventions and exhibitions, cruise lines, health resorts & spas, hotel accommodation, MICE organisers, tourist attractions, tourism boards, tourism TV channels, tour operators, insurance as well as travel and tourism publications.
