Two more Persian Gulf countries, interesting for Russian tourists not only as transit hubs, but also as a holiday destination, may become visa-free in the nearest future. These are Bahrain and Kuwait, which are considering the possibility of introducing a visa-free regime with Russia.

Space Travel has purchased blocks of seats on Gulf Air's direct flights to Bahrain for April and May. Nowadays, Space Travel has the minimum cost for a tour to Bahrain.

20 000 Russians visited Kingdom in 2022. This is almost six times more compared to 2021. The lifting of coronavirus restrictions in Bahrain and loyal entry conditions have become the main drivers of the growth of tourist flow.

Anex Tour offers tours to Bahrain with block transportation as an alternative to the UAE in the Persian Gulf.

Tour operator Coral Travel has decided to take blocks of seats on Gulf Air's daily direct flights from Moscow to Bahrain. So, the tour packages become, respectively, cheaper.

The tour operator Anex Tour has started selling tours with a beach holiday in two Middle Eastern countries - Oman and Bahrain. The first destination is available on connecting flights of foreign airlines from Moscow, the second – on direct flights.

The flagship airline of the Kingdom of Bahrain is expanding its flight program on the Manama-Moscow route. From June 10, instead of three flights a week, the carrier will fly daily to the capital of Bahrain, except for Tuesdays and Sundays.

Tour operators report that Bahrain previously was not in high demand among Russian tourists. For the May holidays of 2022, the destination is among the most popular resorts for organized tourism.

Russia resumed flights with Bali from March 14

Bahrain has simplified the entry rules for Russian tourists. The country has made anti-covid measures slightly simpler - the number of tests that a tourist needs to make was decreased.

On July 23, the Coronavirus Operational Headquarters announced the opening of new routes. Flights to Bahrain, the Dominican Republic, Moldova, as well as to Egyptian resorts are opened.

In December, the tour operator Russian Express has opened package tours to Bahrain. According to the Border Service of the Russian Federation, for the three quarters of 2019, 17 376 Russian citizens visited the country.

Bahrain is the smallest Arab state, and therefore cannot offer a lot of resorts or a variety of excursion programs. The destination is interested mainly as a beach one.  The first Russian tourists appeared in Bahrain in 90-th thanks to Aeroflot flights. The modern history of Bahrain for Russian tourists is rather young and started with Art tour, Space travel and Quinta tour working with the destination for several years on base of regular flights of Gulf Air.

In annual terms, the total volume of Russian citizens in Bahrain increased by almost 2 times, and the number of trips with tourism purposes increased by 2,2 times. Such positive dynamics is connected with the expansion of the volume of flight programs of federal tour operators and the appearance of new leading players.

The range of the tour operator Tui Russia continues to replenish with new destinations. In the end of August, the company began to sell tours to Bahrain. Arrivals start from September 2019.

The Tourism and Exhibition Authority of Bahrain (BTEA) says the country attracted more than 10,000 Russian tourists through a charter program operated by tour operator Coral Travel, Zawya reports. This was part of the BTEA’s efforts to attract tourists from new markets to the Kingdom of Bahrain, as the first charter flight was launched by Coral Travel from Moscow to the Kingdom at the end of October 2018, with an average of two weekly flights. 

Tour packages to Bahrain for the second half of January are cheaper than air tickets. So, you may rest a week at the resort of this island state of the Persian Gulf for 30 thousand Rubles (390 Euros) for two persons (departure from Moscow on January 18, a 3* hotel, BB). At the same time, air tickets for similar dates can be found from 39 thousand Rubles (507 Euros) for two persons.

According to the Tourism Authority of the Kingdom of Bahrain in Russia, from January to June 2018, the incoming tourist flow to Bahrain increased by 5.8% compared to the previous year. Bahrain was visited by 5.9 million tourists. The Russian tourist flow grew by 13.2% and amounted up to 11,298 people.

Coral Travel tour operator will launch a charter program to Bahrain from the end of October. Olga Zakharova, the Leading Specialist of the Coral Travel department recalled that the flight program from Moscow to Bahrain (the airport of arrival is Manama) will be performed by Ural Airlines.

In 2018, Bahrain once again will be the venue for one of the first stages of the "Formula 1" season. The royal race will be held on the famous Sahir highway on April 8 and will gather up to 50 thousand spectators.

This winter season, Bahrain could well compete with Qatar, Oman and the UAE. Thanks to the favorable prices in hotels of brand chains, the Russians are increasingly choosing hotels of category 5*.