AMMAN — Some 5,500 tourists visited the
Baptism Site in February, marking a 15 percent increase over the month of January, when
4,700 tourists visited, according to the Baptism Site Commission’s Director
Rustom Mkhjian who said that the increase, registered during the low tourist
season, is proof of the importance of the site to world tourism.
اضافة اعلان
Mkhjian told
Jordan News that the
increase is also due to the efforts of the concerned authorities, including the
commission, the
Ministry of Tourism, the Jordan Tourism Board, in partnership
with the private sector, including tourism offices and airlines.
He said “the continuous cooperation of
partners in the tourism sector has resulted in the visit of tourist groups from
Spain, France, Romania, and India, and the increase in the number of visitors
from the US. If these efforts continue, the number of tourists may be expected
to increase even more in the coming months”.
Mkhjian attributes the increase in the number
of tourists to “the government’s measures to maintain safety from the
COVID-19 pandemic and the stability of the epidemiological situation” as well, which
“had a significant impact on the arrival of foreign tourists”.
He emphasized that “this number is considered
acceptable if compared to the number of tourists last year, especially in light
of the COVID-19 waves that hit the entire world and greatly affected the
tourism sector”.
Mkhjian believes that the start of the
tourist season in the middle of this month will witness a significant increase
in the number of visitors, especially in light of the recent government
decision to ease the pandemic-imposed restrictions.
“The constant efforts of the concerned
authorities to promote Jordan’s religious sites in the world will have an
impact on religious tourism, which is bound to witness growth,” he said.
“We continue to maintain and improve the site
facilities, in order to serve pilgrims and visitors, and to maintain and
restore archaeological sites throughout the year, especially in light of the
positive indicators, which are a drive for us to work with team spirit to reach
our goals, and to help the economy, on the one hand, and highlight the great
messages of the site, on the other,” Mkhjian added.
The director of the
Catholic Center for Studies and Media, Father Rifat Bader, told
Jordan News that religious
tourism is a mainstay of tourism in Jordan.
“During the COVID-19 period, there were modest numbers of
visitors, but the concerned authorities have made plans to receive tourists
again when this pandemic ends, and this rise in the number of tourists is
really promising and indicates that the plans will work and that we will
witness an increase in the number of visitors in the next months.”
He said there is “great hope that we will
receive huge numbers of pilgrims from Italy and France when this epidemic
ends”, but “this requires great cooperation from all sides, especially
citizens, who must contribute with us to raising the number of tourists by
following the preventive measures so that COVID-19 cases do not rise again and
so that Jordan remains a safe haven for tourists”.
According to Bader, the number of tourists is
expected to grow during the Easter period as well, “and we hope the citizens
will visit the Baptism Site to enjoy the wonderful atmosphere and be blessed by
the waters of the Jordan River, and even prepare the atmosphere for all
tourists around the world to visit it”.
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