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The Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix has helped put Bahrain firmly on the world motor sport calendar and win the kingdom fame as a sporting, business and tourism destination.
Bahrain will be hosting the inaugural race for this year's 60th anniversary celebratory season of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) Formula One World Championship from March 12-14.
Having staged six FIA races so far, the Bahrain International Circuit is now the leading facility of its type anywhere in the region with a commendable reputation for the organisation and development of motor sport and a fast growing corporate entertainment business.
The construction of the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) with its Grand Prix circuit and international Drag strip, have seen both sports grow considerably over the past few years.
The F1 meeting alone generates close to $600 million in direct and indirect business for the economy, equivalent to about three per cent of the nation's gross domestic product, not to speak of the tremendous global television exposure that it brings the kingdom.
The Bahrain retail market will also continue to benefit from the Formula One motor race, which has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues since it became a fixture on the racing calendar in 2004.
Although the Grand Prix is only once a year, the event has become a peg for the BIC to hang other fixtures for the rest of the year. It is not just a Grand Prix circuit but also a corporate events venue where over 550 events including charitable and community ones take place every year.
"We are also the only Grand Prix circuit in the world that is an FIA Centre of Excellence and we set special standards with Bahrain International Circuit safety and medical care. We are at catalyst for business development in the community.
"Of course it is difficult to stay busy throughout the year but we have an active sales and marketing team that is constantly trying to raise the bar to reach our objectives and we have been kept honest by others in the region developing their own circuit as well and creating competition (Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Dubai). There is more and more focus on motor sport locally, regionally, and internationally," says the F1 advisor to the BIC board, Martin Whitaker.
"We are always looking at new initiatives that will create further interest in the Bahrain International Circuit and generate revenue. Right now we are also focusing on karting, which is very important not just in terms of the development for young drivers but it is also an important corporate entertainment tool, leisure pursuit, hobby, and sport," he says.
How has Abu Dhabi's entry into the racing circuit affected Bahrain's prospects?
Whitaker says he certainly did not see it as a threat, but, of course, it has created competition for Bahrain.
However, healthy, internal competition doesn't do anybody any harm, whether it's within an F1 team between drivers or two circuits being close to each other, he says.
It has helped grow the fan base for motor port in this part of the world and helped to create more international events with the benefit of cost-effectiveness of running double-header international events.
"Of course, there will be competition but we believe we have a sound product base here and we have a heritage stretching back seven years. I'm confident that we will be able to coexist and most importantly there are things that we can develop together for the good of the sport within the region in the future," he says.
BIC already has an agreement with the circuit that is designed to help the promotion and create greater PR for motor sport in general. "I can see in the future that perhaps we can develop ideas that benefit both circuits; dual tickets, joint marketing activities and development of TV magazine programmes for regional broadcast," he says.
"Currently the most encouraging aspect is that the government has become totally focused on using the Grand Prix as a platform for doing business," says Whitaker.
"The process of organising and running a successful Grand Prix is not a singular attempt by the BIC, but a combined effort which sees the whole of Bahrain unify and work together to create one of the most spectacular events within the region, which is only possible thanks to the unique sense of national pride that Bahrain is so well known for," says Shaikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa, the acting CEO of BIC.
The government hopes to capitalise on such one-off events by carving out a slice of the year-round market for meetings, incentives, conferences and events.
And by 2012 more foreign visitors are expected in Bahrain, when the first attractions open at @Bahrain, a $3.5 billion mixed-use business, technology and entertainment park being built on a 180-hectare site next to the Sakhir circuit.
The development is part of a concerted push by the Bahraini government to boost its income from 'business tourism'.
