TAF PUBLISHING

The role of urban tourism to enhance the growth of tourism in cities received a disproportionately small amount of attention by the related parties. Hence, under the crucial strategy to preserve the long-term growth potential of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and within the context of urban regeneration, the present research aims to investigate visitors’ attachment to historical tourist places in the capital city of Bahrain, Manama. Indeed, although the city of Manama plays a pivotal role in the development and growth of the national tourism industry, further efforts are needed to enhance the tourism growth in the city. The research findings are based on a questionnaire survey and conducted with 391 visitors randomly selected in tourist attraction areas in the city of Manama. Results in- dicate that both domestic and international visitors have a fairly strong emotional and functional attachment to the historical sites. However, in term of urban regeneration, domestic visitors highlighted the lack of social and cultural events around the historical sites, while international visitors pointed out the lack of pedestrian and cycling facilities around the sites which decrease their attractiveness. The findings highlight the crucial role of place attachment attributes to inform responsive and inclusive urban regeneration for enhanced urban tourism. Furthermore, it helps to encourage the provision of a conducive environment, enabling the tourism sector to grow. The central idea is that successful urban tourism regeneration should transcend the physical aspect of place to the psychological aspect through the place attachment concept.