AMMAN — Resuming mandatory
PCR tests would reduce the
numbers of tourists coming to Jordan and affect the coming Christmas’s and New Year’s
season, tourism stakeholders agreed.
اضافة اعلان
Following the surge in the number of COVID-19
infections in the Kingdom, concerned health authorities announced that all
travelers to Jordan must present a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours
prior to departure, regardless of their vaccination status.
Fully-vaccinated travelers from
specific countries (a list of which can be found on the Jordan Tourism
Board’s website) do not have to undergo an additional PCR test upon arrival.
From a tourism point of view, this announcement will
negatively affect the Jordanian tourism industry, stakeholders said, as it will
increase the cost of trips to and from the Kingdom.
President of Jordan Travel Agents Association Suhail
Halaseh said that mandatory tests will increase prices of trips for tourists
planning to visit the Kingdom during the New Year holidays.
Furthermore, costs of umra (lesser pilgrimage) will be
increased by JD70, over and above the existing JD300 costs for travelers.
For outbound tourism, Jordanian travelers will have to
pay for two tests, increasing the cost of their total trip to any country.
He called on reducing the price of PCR tests at the
Queen Alia Airport as a move to mitigate the impact of the decision and attract
tourists.
The Ministry of Interior told
Jordan News that the decision
is based on recommendations from health officials’ assessments.
Ministry of Tourism spokesperson Ahmed Rifai said that
even if the decision will affect tourism, the government puts the safety and
health of citizen as the top priority.
A source at the
Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) said that there
would be an impact on the costs of trip packages to Jordan; however, JTB’s
operations come in line with the government’s decisions which serve the
national interest.
Hani Massadeh, president of Tourist Guides Association,
said that related measures to this surge in the number of cases are temporary
and happened last year when Delta variant appeared.
Massadeh told
Jordan News that when
Delta emerged,
there were similar measures and were cancelled when the number of cases
decreased. That means there will be no long term effect on the Jordanian
tourism.
“This is a global crisis that affected all countries;
the point is how to mitigate the impact. Our responsibility as tourism sector
is to commit to the preventive measures such as taking the vaccine, wear masks,
and maintain social distancing,” Massadeh said.
“We all have to work on bringing back Jordan’s
classification back to a safe country by complying with all the precautionary measures,”
he added.
The pandemic has affected tourist guides more than any
other sector, as guides are daily laborers who work only in the high seasons
and do not have any sort of job security such social security or even health
insurance, according to Massadeh.
He called on controlling prices of PCR tests at
private laboratories across the Kingdom.
According to the
UN World Tourism Organization,
tourism is one of the world’s major economic sectors. It is the third-largest
export category (after that of fuels and chemicals) and in 2019 accounted for 7
percent of global trade.
Tourism supports one in 10 jobs and provides
livelihoods for many millions more in both developing and developed economies.
Tourism accounts for around 13 per cent of Jordan’s
GDP, and employs more than 55,000 people.
In 2019, Petra, the Kingdom’s largest tourist
attraction, celebrated its 1 millionth tourist for the first time in its
history just months before the site was closed due to the outbreak of COVID-19.
Read more Business
.jpg)
.jpg)
