As a nation comprising more than 30 islands in the Persian Gulf, the Kingdom of Bahrain was one of the earliest areas to convert to Islam. It has an open economy and has invested heavily in the banking and tourism sectors, while having a population of just over 1.3 million. With a nominal GDP of more than US $33.8 billion, from which 11% represents oil exports, this Kingdom still relies on petroleum, as the industry is responsible for more than 70% of the government’s revenues.

Bahrain has a universal healthcare system that is free for all Bahraini citizens and heavily subsidized for non-Bahrainis. For many years, the country has strive to become one of the best healthcare providers in the Gulf region, as the government sees healthcare as a way for the country to evolve into a service oriented economy, once oil revenues start to decline.

Different to what Bahrain’s information shows, it ranks very low on the Medical Tourism Index for the Arabic nations. With an 11^th overall position, it has plenty of work to do in order to increase its medical tourism and the potential international patient inflow. Working on the country’s brand and the way the country is perceived is important, as Bahrain only got to the 10^th position for the country environment dimension. It is also to its advantage to start getting certifications and accreditations for all its healthcare industry as a way of becoming a better competitor in the region. After all, the country wants to achieve its goal of becoming a service-oriented economy in the future, but it still has a cost disadvantage and struggles to become attractive to tourists, two important sub-dimensions that should be address, if increasing market share for medical tourism is the goal.