AMMAN —
Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Nayef Al-Fayez was quoted by local media outlets on
Monday as saying that the tourism sector has begun a gradual recovery and is
expected to recover fully soon.
اضافة اعلان
Operators in the
tourism sector agree that the epidemiological stability in Jordan and the world,
and the easing of travel restrictions contributed to the improvement of the
tourism sector.
Ministry of
Tourism and Antiquities spokesman
Ahmad Al-Rifai told
Jordan News that
lifting the measures imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic a few months ago “contributed
significantly to alleviating the consequences of the pandemic on the tourism
sector” adding that its positive effects started to show, by revitalizing the
tourist movements and helping increase the number of tourists coming to the
Kingdom.
The ministry, he
said, is in constant communication with tourist associations and various
tourism service providers, “to reach appropriate solutions and plans that would
revitalize the tourism movement”.
He also expects
the coming period to be “even better than now, especially if the
epidemiological situation related to the
COVID-19 pandemic remains stable
around the world”.
President of
Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association
Awni Kawar told
Jordan News that “figures and reservations data indicate that tourism in Jordan began to
partially recover, in particular in the months of April and May”.
“It is expected
that the tourism movement will continue to recover in the autumn season,
especially in September and October,” he added.
According to
Kawar, “many factors contributed to the recovery of the tourism movement,
including the mitigating measures taken by the government to help the tourism
sector”, the fact that Europe started to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and
tourists from these countries traditionally visit Jordan, alongside a
relatively stable epidemiological situation in most parts of the world.
Kawar called the
desire to travel after long time spent in quarantines and lockups “revenge
travel”. It can be expected to help the tourism sector “revive significantly in
early 2023, if the epidemiological situation remains stable”.
Atef Zeidan, who
is a tour guide, told
Jordan News that “compared to the same time in the
prior year, there is a noticeable improvement in the tourism sector”.
Last spring, he
said, tourism movement was “very modest” and workers in the tourism sector
“incurred a great loss”. This year, “the
tourism sector regained about 50 percent of the volume of work of 2019, the
last year before the onset of the
COVID-19 pandemic. It is a good percentage,
compared to the difficult situation during the last period”.
If the
epidemiological and security situation in the region remains stable, “we can
recover about 70 percent of the work volume”, he said.
Zeidan praised
official efforts to promote the Kingdom.
“Jordan has become
a well-known destination for the whole world due to the intensification of
efforts made by the representatives and workers in the tourism sector in the
Kingdom, most prominent the Jordan Tourism Board and national airlines,” he said.
But in order to encourage
even more tourists to come to the Kingdom, Zeidan said it is important to
“provide facilities for travelers and reduce expenses”.
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