Royal Wings,the subsidiary of Royal Jordanian – is to launch direct flights between King Hussein International Airport in Aqaba on the Jordanian coast and Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai South.
Royal Wings is transferring its operations from Amman to Aqaba to boost air transportation and tourism in the port city.
This new Dubai service will be run twice weekly – Sundays and Thursdays – at a first stage, with competitive ticket fares to facilitate the movement of passengers between Aqaba, an important tourist and economic destination on the shores of the Red Sea, and Dubai, a vital and pivotal business centre.
With this new flight, investors and tourists will be able to visit Aqaba, Petra and Wadi Rum, enjoy Jordanian tourist sites and its moderate weather.
Royal Wings Managing Director Osama Quntar said: Royal Wings operates this route in cooperation with the Jordan Tourism Board, which continuously seeks to promote Jordan to the world, especially in the Arab Gulf countries, whose citizens consider Jordan an attractive destination for family tourism in terms of entertainment, culture, health and medical and eco tourism.
This new service to Dubai comes after it launched direct regular flights to Beirut and Cairo.
The company also aims to operate to new markets like London, Milan, Moscow, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Oslo, Stockholm and others, according to its 2017- 2018 operational plan.
The flights depart at 8:35 from Aqaba and arrives at Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai at 12:25; it takes off from Dubai at 13:10 and arrives in Aqaba at 15:15.
Tourism, Travel, Hospitality, Conservation: News,Stories And Experiences From Allover The World
Showing posts with label Aqaba. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aqaba. Show all posts
Wednesday, 28 June 2017
Friday, 19 May 2017
JORDAN: 400 Russian Tourists Land In Aqaba
A Pegas Touristic charter flight from Russia carrying 400 tourists landed in Aqaba, Jordan today.
Aqaba is a seaside resort in Southern Jordan and after Amman a second international gateway into the country. Sandwiched in between trouble-spots in the world, Jordan Tourism is working hard to make the tourism world understand the country is safe, beautiful and ready to receive tourists.
A recently concluded UNWTO conference in Petra, Jordan brought attention to the situation in Jordan.
The latest charter flight is supported by the Jordan Tourism Board and operates in cooperation with TravCo Jordan.
It’s an example of the tangible achievements brought on by the Jordan Tourism Board’s efforts to attract international scheduled charters and low cost carriers to Aqaba.
This step will encourage more routes to be established to the city of Aqaba which will then act as a launching pad for more international tourist sites in the Kingdom.
Dr. Abed Al-Razzaq Arabiyat, managing director of the Jordan Tourism Board, said: The success we’re witnessing is a direct result of cooperative and mutual efforts from the Ministry of Tourism, Aqaba Authority and related tour operators in order to promote tourism in the Kingdom.
Arabiyat added: The number of Russian tourists has noticeably increased due to JTB’s marketing campaigns in Russia and has reached over 40 thousand tourists so far this year.
Paolo Nocerino, general manager of TravCo Jordan, a company specialized in organizing tours for Russian tourists to the Kingdom, said: We’re putting in real and palpable effort to support the revitalization of the tourism sector in Jordan through enhanced programs and through working closely with others in the travel industry in Jordan and around the world.Nocerino added
A Pegas Touristic charter flight from Russia carrying 400 tourists landed in Aqaba, Jordan today.
Aqaba is a seaside resort in Southern Jordan and after Amman a second international gateway into the country.
Sandwiched in between trouble-spots in the world, Jordan Tourism is working hard to make the tourism world understand the country is safe, beautiful and ready to receive tourists.
A recently concluded UNWTO conference in Petra, Jordan brought attention to the situation in Jordan.
The latest charter flight is supported by the Jordan Tourism Board and operates in cooperation with TravCo Jordan.
It’s an example of the tangible achievements brought on by the Jordan Tourism Board’s efforts to attract international scheduled charters and low cost carriers to Aqaba.
This step will encourage more routes to be established to the city of Aqaba which will then act as a launching pad for more international tourist sites in the Kingdom.
Dr. Abed Al-Razzaq Arabiyat, managing director of the Jordan Tourism Board, said: The success we’re witnessing is a direct result of cooperative and mutual efforts from the Ministry of Tourism, Aqaba Authority and related tour operators in order to promote tourism in the Kingdom.
Arabiyat added: The number of Russian tourists has noticeably increased due to JTB’s marketing campaigns in Russia and has reached over 40 thousand tourists so far this year.
Paolo Nocerino, general manager of TravCo Jordan, a company specialized in organizing tours for Russian tourists to the Kingdom, said: We’re putting in real and palpable effort to support the revitalization of the tourism sector in Jordan through enhanced programs and through working closely with others in the travel industry in Jordan and around the world.
Nocerino added: These positive results contribute to reinvigorating the tourism industry in Jordan through the support of TravCo PLC and their local team who are dedicated to making sure that tourists are enjoying their experiences in the Kingdom and encouraging their friends and family to do the same.
It is worth noting that the Jordan Tourism Board launched intensified campaigns in Russia starting late 2015 that extended to early 2016 in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan and Krasnodar which lead to the launch of charter flights to Aqaba.
JTB also has a strategy in place to attract charters and low cost carriers from around the world to take advantage of incentives at KHIA.
Recently a charter from Kiev also started service to the second international gateway into Jordan.
Aqaba is a seaside resort in Southern Jordan and after Amman a second international gateway into the country. Sandwiched in between trouble-spots in the world, Jordan Tourism is working hard to make the tourism world understand the country is safe, beautiful and ready to receive tourists.
A recently concluded UNWTO conference in Petra, Jordan brought attention to the situation in Jordan.
The latest charter flight is supported by the Jordan Tourism Board and operates in cooperation with TravCo Jordan.
It’s an example of the tangible achievements brought on by the Jordan Tourism Board’s efforts to attract international scheduled charters and low cost carriers to Aqaba.
This step will encourage more routes to be established to the city of Aqaba which will then act as a launching pad for more international tourist sites in the Kingdom.
Dr. Abed Al-Razzaq Arabiyat, managing director of the Jordan Tourism Board, said: The success we’re witnessing is a direct result of cooperative and mutual efforts from the Ministry of Tourism, Aqaba Authority and related tour operators in order to promote tourism in the Kingdom.
Arabiyat added: The number of Russian tourists has noticeably increased due to JTB’s marketing campaigns in Russia and has reached over 40 thousand tourists so far this year.
Paolo Nocerino, general manager of TravCo Jordan, a company specialized in organizing tours for Russian tourists to the Kingdom, said: We’re putting in real and palpable effort to support the revitalization of the tourism sector in Jordan through enhanced programs and through working closely with others in the travel industry in Jordan and around the world.Nocerino added
A Pegas Touristic charter flight from Russia carrying 400 tourists landed in Aqaba, Jordan today.
Aqaba is a seaside resort in Southern Jordan and after Amman a second international gateway into the country.
Sandwiched in between trouble-spots in the world, Jordan Tourism is working hard to make the tourism world understand the country is safe, beautiful and ready to receive tourists.
A recently concluded UNWTO conference in Petra, Jordan brought attention to the situation in Jordan.
The latest charter flight is supported by the Jordan Tourism Board and operates in cooperation with TravCo Jordan.
It’s an example of the tangible achievements brought on by the Jordan Tourism Board’s efforts to attract international scheduled charters and low cost carriers to Aqaba.
This step will encourage more routes to be established to the city of Aqaba which will then act as a launching pad for more international tourist sites in the Kingdom.
Dr. Abed Al-Razzaq Arabiyat, managing director of the Jordan Tourism Board, said: The success we’re witnessing is a direct result of cooperative and mutual efforts from the Ministry of Tourism, Aqaba Authority and related tour operators in order to promote tourism in the Kingdom.
Arabiyat added: The number of Russian tourists has noticeably increased due to JTB’s marketing campaigns in Russia and has reached over 40 thousand tourists so far this year.
Paolo Nocerino, general manager of TravCo Jordan, a company specialized in organizing tours for Russian tourists to the Kingdom, said: We’re putting in real and palpable effort to support the revitalization of the tourism sector in Jordan through enhanced programs and through working closely with others in the travel industry in Jordan and around the world.
Nocerino added: These positive results contribute to reinvigorating the tourism industry in Jordan through the support of TravCo PLC and their local team who are dedicated to making sure that tourists are enjoying their experiences in the Kingdom and encouraging their friends and family to do the same.
It is worth noting that the Jordan Tourism Board launched intensified campaigns in Russia starting late 2015 that extended to early 2016 in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan and Krasnodar which lead to the launch of charter flights to Aqaba.
JTB also has a strategy in place to attract charters and low cost carriers from around the world to take advantage of incentives at KHIA.
Recently a charter from Kiev also started service to the second international gateway into Jordan.
Friday, 28 April 2017
JORDAN: Golden Triangle Of Tourism,Wadi Rum, Petra And Aqaba Most Affected By Drop In Tourist Arrivals
The drop in tourists is most noticeable in what is known as Jordan's 'golden triangle' of tourism: the sites of Wadi Rum, Petra and Aqaba.
Shaker al-Onaizi started his career in tourism at the age of five by selling postcards to tourists who flocked to the desert expanse of Wadi Rum in southern Jordan.
Now the 24-year-old, like tens of thousands of other Jordanians who rely on tourism for their living, is facing his leanest year. Campsites are empty, and his 4x4 pick-up truck, which once took dozens of visitors on guided tours each day, sits idle.
"If there are tourists, we work and eat. If not, we sleep," Onaizi said as he gazed across the reddish desert.
While tourism in Jordan has been on the decline since the outbreak of the Arab Spring uprisings four years ago, it has witnessed its sharpest drop in 2015, with the number of tourists in the first four months of the year down 40 percent from 2014.
The tourism sector makes up 13 percent of Jordan's gross domestic product, and provides jobs in hotels and resorts for around 49,000 people. This figure excludes members of local communities - Bedouins in Petra and Onaizi in Rum - whose livelihoods are based on tourism.
Officials and experts in the sector attribute the decline to Jordan's prominent role in the campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). "We are paying a tax for being in the middle of an inflamed region," said Abul Razaq Arabiat, the head of Jordan's Tourism Board.
In December, ISIL downed a Jordanian jet and captured its pilot, Moaz al-Kasasbeh, in the Syrian city of Raqqa. In February, ISIL released a video showing the pilot being burned alive, sparking angry protests across Jordan calling for revenge and increased Jordanian air strikes against the group in Syria.
Tourism industry leaders say the worldwide publicity created by these events scared off thousands of tourists, prompting tour groups to cancel their bookings to the kingdom.
"The pilot crisis created a perception that Jordan is not safe," said Lina Khalid, director of the Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association.
The capture of the pilot happened at around the same time as the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris, which Khalid believes also caused thousands of cancellations.
Many French tourists were worried by demonstrations against the cartoons that took place in Jordan,she said
Late last year and early this year, the US and French embassies in Jordan issued travel warnings, asking their citizens to be cautious and to stay away from malls and shopping centres in the country. The travel warnings have "discouraged many Westerners" from visiting Jordan, according to Arabiat.
The drop in tourists is most noticeable in what is known as Jordan's "golden triangle" of tourism: the sites of Wadi Rum, Petra, and Aqaba.
According to Khalid, occupancy of hotels in the region has not exceeded 20 percent so far this year, whereas normally occupancy rates can reach 90-95 percent.
The ancient city of Petra is nearly empty; on one day in early June, just a few dozen tourists wandered its cavernous gorges and rock-carved temples. Out of desperation, children clung to the occasional visitor who passed by, trying to sell them postcards.
Bedouin men and women advertised 50-percent-off sales on silver and antiques, while young men strolled back and forth, treading the same dusty paths with their horses and camels, trying to convince the handful of visitors to take a guided tour.
In Petra alone, 10 hotels have been reported closed this year due to mounting losses, and many have reduced their staff, leaving hundreds of residents jobless.
In Rum village, which has a population of roughly 1,300, people rely mainly on tourism as a source of income, while others work in the military or herd animals.
Onaizi, the tour guide, who dropped out of school at the age of 14 to help his father open one of the area's first campsites, said that unless the industry rebounds soon, he and many of his peers will abandon the sector.
"I have been engaged for a year and a half, and I do not know how long it will take me to build my future home," said Onaizi. In previous years, his camp used to host up to 30 or 40 people a night; now, barely a handful trickle in each week.
In recent weeks, the Jordanian government announced that it was taking measures and adopting an "emergency plan" to address the challenges facing the country's tourism sector.
The measures include waiving the $56 visa fee for visitors staying in the country for a minimum of two consecutive nights, and introducing a new, $100 "all-inclusive" pass for the country's most famous tourist sites, such as Petra, Jerash, and the site where Jesus is believed to have been baptised. Currently, the entry fee to Petra alone is $70.
Jordan's Ministry of Tourism avoids giving clarifications.
But it remains to be seen whether these measures will be enough to counter potential tourists' security concerns.
"Instability around us will remain our biggest challenge," Arabiat said. "Until the regional turmoil calms down, we have to tell the world that Jordan is safe."
Standing on a hill overlooking the flat green plains that stretch between the northern Jordanian town of Ramtha and the Syrian border, Ahmad Abu Sarhan laments the devastating consequences of the Syrian war on his hometown.
"Here, we are living in a state of war - without war," said Abu Sarhan, a 43-year-old shopkeeper.
Once known as the "Sinbads" of Jordan due to their relentless trade and ability to find commercial opportunities abroad, residents of Ramtha, 90km north of Amman, relied on the ancient route to Syria as their lifeline, counting on trade and transport between the two countries for income.
But ever since the beginning of the Syrian uprising in 2011, thousands of Ramtha families have lost their livelihoods, and now struggle to put food on the table. "Our war is economic. We are fighting to feed our children," Abu Sarhan said.
The final nail in Ramtha's economic coffin was the closure of the Jaber-Nassib border crossing after Syrian rebel groups seized it on April 4. Amid the chaos on the Syrian side, armed fighters and civilians reportedly looted the Syrian-Jordanian free zone, with losses estimated at 100 million Jordanian dinars ($140m).
"Overnight, I lost all my business and my staff lost their jobs," said Abdullah Abu Aqoolah, whose car dealership was looted. After boasting a display of 388 cars, he has only six left to his name now.
Nabil Rumman, the manager of Jordan's free zones, estimates that some 7,000 Jordanians - working in logistics, transport and other services - have lost their jobs since the Jaber-Nassib border closure.
The majority of those laid off were from Ramtha, cutting the last sources of income for the border town, while others hailed from the northern Jordanian towns of Irbid and Mafraq, which are also housing an influx of more than 200,000 Syrian refugees.
"It is a blow for the Jordanian economy, but it is the work force that has been hit hardest," Rumman said. Heavy items such as wood and construction equipment survived the looting and have been transferred to the Zarqa Free Zone, according to Rumman.
But for the residents of Ramtha, this was just the latest, and most devastating, of a series of attacks that have gradually taken away their livelihoods.
In 2011, Jordanian authorities closed the Deraa-Ramtha border crossing, a move that cost 3,500 taxi drivers their jobs, according to residents and community leaders. It also gradually blocked the flow of goods such as cotton, food and clothing from Syria to Ramtha's wholesale merchants.
"The economy in Ramtha was on life support for the past three years, but the latest closure has completely killed it," said Abdul Salam Thunibat, head of Ramtha's Chamber of Commerce. The number of active merchants in the border town registered with the chamber declined from 6,500 in 2010, to 1,000 in 2015, according to Thunibat.
"They cannot afford to pay rent, taxes, and salaries when there are no goods coming in," Thunibat said, adding that some merchants have turned to Turkey and China to import from, shouldering higher transportation costs.
By midday in Ramtha, most shops remain shuttered, with no local demand to encourage them to open. Even the local butcher offers his customers an economic choice between "fresh meat" or days-old "leftovers", due to declining demand and purchasing power.
The Syrian war has not only cut off the border town's lifeline. It has also brought an influx of tens of thousands of Syrian refugees, who have strained the local infrastructure in Ramtha and flooded the labour force with cheap, skilled labour that out-price Jordanian workers.
Rihab Krasneh, 37, shut down her 15-year-old hair salon in Ramtha after her customers turned to Syrian hairstylists who offered half-price services in their own homes. "They do not pay for rent or taxes, so whatever they earn is profit," Krasneh said.
Locals blame the Jordanian government for not doing enough to create job opportunities or improve the services and infrastructure that have been burdened by the Syrian crisis. Before the Syrian war, Ramtha's population stood at 90,000. With the influx of refugees, it has ballooned to 160,000, according to Ibraheem Saqqar, head of Ramtha's municipality.
The Jordanian government received $216m in aid to help the country cope with the pressure placed on them by the Syrian crisis. But Ramtha locals say the government has not properly allocated the funds. "We still have only one hospital. No more schools have been built, and no job opportunities were created with this aid money they talk about," Saqqar said.
The only noteworthy addition to the town has been the establishment of two new cemeteries donated by a local charity, after the war raging a few kilometres away filled up Ramtha's burial plots.
The only "breathing space for families", a community garden known as King Abdullah Gardens, was long ago converted into a camp for Syrian refugees.
Jordanian officials, however, say that aid money is not sufficient to solve the problems caused by the Syrian crisis.
With Jordanian border towns suffering economically and coping with a doubling of the population, they say their needs are too great and the donations too few. With so much need, they say it is difficult to know where to allocate the limited funds.
"Regardless of how much you do, it is not going to have an impact because the sheer numbers of refugees are enormous," Hassan Assaf, governor of Irbid,said. "If I have a million dinars, will it be enough to build a school, hospital, or fix streets?"
Meanwhile, the sounds of the Syrian war, which has killed 210,000 and displaced 3.7 million Syrians, continue to echo in Ramtha.
Every night, the crack of gunfire and the low rumble of shelling from Syria interrupts their sleep, while the occasional mortar shell falls on Jordanian soil. Luckily, the errant mortars have caused no casualties, but several Ramtha residents have been wounded over the past four years.
And lately, pictures of civilians and armed groups looting the free zones have been circulating over mobile phones. To protect their children from the echoes of war, Abu Sarhan and his wife used to tell them that the sounds of shelling were fireworks from celebrations.
But now as the children "go to school with Syrian children who tell them horrific stories about the shelling", the war has crept into their home as well.
Shaker al-Onaizi started his career in tourism at the age of five by selling postcards to tourists who flocked to the desert expanse of Wadi Rum in southern Jordan.
Now the 24-year-old, like tens of thousands of other Jordanians who rely on tourism for their living, is facing his leanest year. Campsites are empty, and his 4x4 pick-up truck, which once took dozens of visitors on guided tours each day, sits idle.
"If there are tourists, we work and eat. If not, we sleep," Onaizi said as he gazed across the reddish desert.
While tourism in Jordan has been on the decline since the outbreak of the Arab Spring uprisings four years ago, it has witnessed its sharpest drop in 2015, with the number of tourists in the first four months of the year down 40 percent from 2014.
The tourism sector makes up 13 percent of Jordan's gross domestic product, and provides jobs in hotels and resorts for around 49,000 people. This figure excludes members of local communities - Bedouins in Petra and Onaizi in Rum - whose livelihoods are based on tourism.
Officials and experts in the sector attribute the decline to Jordan's prominent role in the campaign against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). "We are paying a tax for being in the middle of an inflamed region," said Abul Razaq Arabiat, the head of Jordan's Tourism Board.
In December, ISIL downed a Jordanian jet and captured its pilot, Moaz al-Kasasbeh, in the Syrian city of Raqqa. In February, ISIL released a video showing the pilot being burned alive, sparking angry protests across Jordan calling for revenge and increased Jordanian air strikes against the group in Syria.
Tourism industry leaders say the worldwide publicity created by these events scared off thousands of tourists, prompting tour groups to cancel their bookings to the kingdom.
"The pilot crisis created a perception that Jordan is not safe," said Lina Khalid, director of the Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association.
The capture of the pilot happened at around the same time as the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris, which Khalid believes also caused thousands of cancellations.
Many French tourists were worried by demonstrations against the cartoons that took place in Jordan,she said
Late last year and early this year, the US and French embassies in Jordan issued travel warnings, asking their citizens to be cautious and to stay away from malls and shopping centres in the country. The travel warnings have "discouraged many Westerners" from visiting Jordan, according to Arabiat.
The drop in tourists is most noticeable in what is known as Jordan's "golden triangle" of tourism: the sites of Wadi Rum, Petra, and Aqaba.
According to Khalid, occupancy of hotels in the region has not exceeded 20 percent so far this year, whereas normally occupancy rates can reach 90-95 percent.
The ancient city of Petra is nearly empty; on one day in early June, just a few dozen tourists wandered its cavernous gorges and rock-carved temples. Out of desperation, children clung to the occasional visitor who passed by, trying to sell them postcards.
Bedouin men and women advertised 50-percent-off sales on silver and antiques, while young men strolled back and forth, treading the same dusty paths with their horses and camels, trying to convince the handful of visitors to take a guided tour.
In Petra alone, 10 hotels have been reported closed this year due to mounting losses, and many have reduced their staff, leaving hundreds of residents jobless.
In Rum village, which has a population of roughly 1,300, people rely mainly on tourism as a source of income, while others work in the military or herd animals.
Onaizi, the tour guide, who dropped out of school at the age of 14 to help his father open one of the area's first campsites, said that unless the industry rebounds soon, he and many of his peers will abandon the sector.
"I have been engaged for a year and a half, and I do not know how long it will take me to build my future home," said Onaizi. In previous years, his camp used to host up to 30 or 40 people a night; now, barely a handful trickle in each week.
In recent weeks, the Jordanian government announced that it was taking measures and adopting an "emergency plan" to address the challenges facing the country's tourism sector.
The measures include waiving the $56 visa fee for visitors staying in the country for a minimum of two consecutive nights, and introducing a new, $100 "all-inclusive" pass for the country's most famous tourist sites, such as Petra, Jerash, and the site where Jesus is believed to have been baptised. Currently, the entry fee to Petra alone is $70.
Jordan's Ministry of Tourism avoids giving clarifications.
But it remains to be seen whether these measures will be enough to counter potential tourists' security concerns.
"Instability around us will remain our biggest challenge," Arabiat said. "Until the regional turmoil calms down, we have to tell the world that Jordan is safe."
Standing on a hill overlooking the flat green plains that stretch between the northern Jordanian town of Ramtha and the Syrian border, Ahmad Abu Sarhan laments the devastating consequences of the Syrian war on his hometown.
"Here, we are living in a state of war - without war," said Abu Sarhan, a 43-year-old shopkeeper.
Once known as the "Sinbads" of Jordan due to their relentless trade and ability to find commercial opportunities abroad, residents of Ramtha, 90km north of Amman, relied on the ancient route to Syria as their lifeline, counting on trade and transport between the two countries for income.
But ever since the beginning of the Syrian uprising in 2011, thousands of Ramtha families have lost their livelihoods, and now struggle to put food on the table. "Our war is economic. We are fighting to feed our children," Abu Sarhan said.
The final nail in Ramtha's economic coffin was the closure of the Jaber-Nassib border crossing after Syrian rebel groups seized it on April 4. Amid the chaos on the Syrian side, armed fighters and civilians reportedly looted the Syrian-Jordanian free zone, with losses estimated at 100 million Jordanian dinars ($140m).
"Overnight, I lost all my business and my staff lost their jobs," said Abdullah Abu Aqoolah, whose car dealership was looted. After boasting a display of 388 cars, he has only six left to his name now.
Nabil Rumman, the manager of Jordan's free zones, estimates that some 7,000 Jordanians - working in logistics, transport and other services - have lost their jobs since the Jaber-Nassib border closure.
The majority of those laid off were from Ramtha, cutting the last sources of income for the border town, while others hailed from the northern Jordanian towns of Irbid and Mafraq, which are also housing an influx of more than 200,000 Syrian refugees.
"It is a blow for the Jordanian economy, but it is the work force that has been hit hardest," Rumman said. Heavy items such as wood and construction equipment survived the looting and have been transferred to the Zarqa Free Zone, according to Rumman.
But for the residents of Ramtha, this was just the latest, and most devastating, of a series of attacks that have gradually taken away their livelihoods.
In 2011, Jordanian authorities closed the Deraa-Ramtha border crossing, a move that cost 3,500 taxi drivers their jobs, according to residents and community leaders. It also gradually blocked the flow of goods such as cotton, food and clothing from Syria to Ramtha's wholesale merchants.
"The economy in Ramtha was on life support for the past three years, but the latest closure has completely killed it," said Abdul Salam Thunibat, head of Ramtha's Chamber of Commerce. The number of active merchants in the border town registered with the chamber declined from 6,500 in 2010, to 1,000 in 2015, according to Thunibat.
"They cannot afford to pay rent, taxes, and salaries when there are no goods coming in," Thunibat said, adding that some merchants have turned to Turkey and China to import from, shouldering higher transportation costs.
By midday in Ramtha, most shops remain shuttered, with no local demand to encourage them to open. Even the local butcher offers his customers an economic choice between "fresh meat" or days-old "leftovers", due to declining demand and purchasing power.
The Syrian war has not only cut off the border town's lifeline. It has also brought an influx of tens of thousands of Syrian refugees, who have strained the local infrastructure in Ramtha and flooded the labour force with cheap, skilled labour that out-price Jordanian workers.
Rihab Krasneh, 37, shut down her 15-year-old hair salon in Ramtha after her customers turned to Syrian hairstylists who offered half-price services in their own homes. "They do not pay for rent or taxes, so whatever they earn is profit," Krasneh said.
Locals blame the Jordanian government for not doing enough to create job opportunities or improve the services and infrastructure that have been burdened by the Syrian crisis. Before the Syrian war, Ramtha's population stood at 90,000. With the influx of refugees, it has ballooned to 160,000, according to Ibraheem Saqqar, head of Ramtha's municipality.
The Jordanian government received $216m in aid to help the country cope with the pressure placed on them by the Syrian crisis. But Ramtha locals say the government has not properly allocated the funds. "We still have only one hospital. No more schools have been built, and no job opportunities were created with this aid money they talk about," Saqqar said.
The only noteworthy addition to the town has been the establishment of two new cemeteries donated by a local charity, after the war raging a few kilometres away filled up Ramtha's burial plots.
The only "breathing space for families", a community garden known as King Abdullah Gardens, was long ago converted into a camp for Syrian refugees.
Jordanian officials, however, say that aid money is not sufficient to solve the problems caused by the Syrian crisis.
With Jordanian border towns suffering economically and coping with a doubling of the population, they say their needs are too great and the donations too few. With so much need, they say it is difficult to know where to allocate the limited funds.
"Regardless of how much you do, it is not going to have an impact because the sheer numbers of refugees are enormous," Hassan Assaf, governor of Irbid,said. "If I have a million dinars, will it be enough to build a school, hospital, or fix streets?"
Meanwhile, the sounds of the Syrian war, which has killed 210,000 and displaced 3.7 million Syrians, continue to echo in Ramtha.
Every night, the crack of gunfire and the low rumble of shelling from Syria interrupts their sleep, while the occasional mortar shell falls on Jordanian soil. Luckily, the errant mortars have caused no casualties, but several Ramtha residents have been wounded over the past four years.
And lately, pictures of civilians and armed groups looting the free zones have been circulating over mobile phones. To protect their children from the echoes of war, Abu Sarhan and his wife used to tell them that the sounds of shelling were fireworks from celebrations.
But now as the children "go to school with Syrian children who tell them horrific stories about the shelling", the war has crept into their home as well.
JORDAN: Jordan Hosts AdventureNEXT Conference 15-17/ May
Jordan will on May 15-17 host AdventureNEXT Near East, the first conference to develop ecotourism and travel throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
The event - organized with the support of Jordan's tourism and antiquities ministry and the Jordan Tourism Board - will be held alongside the inauguration of the 650-km Jordan Trail, which will cross 52 villages across the country. The Jordan Trail is expected to lead to economic growth for the local communities.
Taking part will be tourism boards, travel agents and representatives of hotel facilities strongly supporting sustainable, responsible and adventure tourism that are members of the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA), a body that has 1,100 associates in 90 countries.
Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Lina Annab Tuesday said Jordan's largest tourism investments are located in Amman, the Dead Sea and Aqaba, pointing out that the value of current investments in Aqaba and the Dead Sea amount to about JOD16 billion.
Annab is heading the Jordanian delegation participating in the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2017 in Dubai, running through Thursday with the participation of 159 countries.
She told Petra that most recent include the Ayla Oasis, which includes the first 18-hole golf course designed by the legendary golfer Greg Norman, Saraya Aqaba and Marsa Zayed, in the southern port of Aqaba.
Annab said Amman is currently witnessing significant tourism investments, such as the St. Regis and Fairmont hotel projects and the Abdali Boulevard project, which includes Rotana hotels and a chain of international restaurants.
ATM 2017 will welcome over 2,600 confirmed exhibitors – with 100 exhibiting for the first time – across 65 national pavilions, and an expected number of visitors of 30,000.
Weeks after last month's deadly castle siege in the Jordanian city of Karak, police maintained a daily presence in an armoured Jeep in the heart of the capital Amman.
A helmeted police officer constantly manned the heavy machinegun affixed to the Jeep's roof, scanning cars and pedestrians as they navigated through the central neighbourhood of Jabal al-Weibdeh. Other officers stopped and searched vehicles and pedestrians, a patrol that continued up until last week.
A vibrant neighbourhood comprising Jordanian Muslims, Christians and foreigners, Jabal al-Weibdeh is in many ways an example of the tolerant image that Jordan wants to project to the world - while the heavy, yet temporary police presence illustrates the fine line that Jordan must tread between visible security and not deterring tourists.
In 2015, tourism contributed 6 percent directly to Jordan's GDP, and more than 20 percent indirectly, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.
After the Karak siege, the United States warned its citizens of "threats from terrorist groups throughout Jordan", adding to fears about the impacts of the attack on Jordan's tourism sector.
The modern Jordanian tourism industry was born out of conflict - in particular, Israel's capture and occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank in 1967, said Suleiman Farajat, an assistant professor of tourism at the University of Jordan.
"When Jordan lost the West Bank in 1967, it became very important to focus on Jordanian sites in the east, starting from Petra, where the first management plan was done in 1968," Farajat told Al Jazeera.
With the rise of oil in the region in the 1970s, the inscription of Petra as a World Heritage Site in 1985, and the filming of 1989's Indiana Jones in Petra, Jordan's international profile rose. The country's peace treaty with Israel in 1994, Farajat said, was a real turning point "when numbers of tourists doubled, and when the infrastructure of tourism became more visible".
But subsequent regional conflicts, including the 2003 Iraq war and the ongoing violence in Syria and Iraq, have heavily impacted Jordan's tourism industry, causing tourist numbers to fall. Visitor numbers to Petra were halved between 2014 and 2015, dropping from 800,000 to 400,000.
Tourism industry workers are concerned about what lies ahead. Ahmad, a tour guide who works at the Greco-Roman ruins at Jerash - which were also under tightened security after the Karak siege - has witnessed the steady decline in numbers first-hand.
Since the outbreak of Syria's civil war in 2011, he estimates there has been an 80 percent drop in tourists to Jerash.
"In the high season, we used to do up to five tours a day, each tour guide. Now in the high season we do one every day, sometimes one every two days," said Ahmad, who did not provide a last name.
He noted that his profession faces a secondary threat from the increased automation of tour-guide services, including cheaper, headphone audio-guided tours.
When they do come to Jordan, tourists' demographics have also changed, Ahmad said including the replacement of "retirees, Americans, Europeans, on a regular, or traditional tour", with younger, often poorer, tourists.
"This is reflected in the budget of the tourist. Mostly, the majority come here on a tight budget," he explained, noting that entrance fees to some of Jordan's tourist sites may be prohibitively high. A one-month entry visa to Jordan costs 40 Jordanian dinars ($56), while the entrance fee for a one-day visit to Petra is 50 dinars ($70).
When Ahmad began working as a tour guide in 2010, it was a coveted career, he said.
"In the past it used to be a full-time job, and they used to make very good money. It was the best job to do in Jordan. Some professors left teaching in universities and became tour guides," he explained. "But now it's the opposite. Tour guides are looking for other jobs."
As many tour guides struggle to maintain a steady income and morale plummets, Farajat said, this "indirectly influences the quality of service and the culture of service", harming Jordan's competitive advantage in the international market.
Still, with attacks being staged everywhere from Paris to Berlin, tourists are realising that "it could happen anywhere," Ahmad noted.
"We had the attack in Karak, and the attack in Germany. How many people were killed here, and there? In Jordan, 10. In Germany, 12," Ahmad recalled telling a group of young, western tourists in Karak on the day of last month's siege.
If you talk about terrorism, now it's everywhere in the world. So there's no point in avoiding this country or that, because it can happen in every country.
Farajat cited the importance of tourism as a way to counter Islamophobic narratives in the West.
It's very important in this time of Islamophobia, that tourists come here and see that we are normal people. We don't bite, he said with a laugh. That's important, right?
Certain areas of Jordan, especially the tourist draws of Jerash, Petra, Wadi Rum and Aqaba - may be hit hardest by any fallout from the Karak siege.
But Tourism Minister Lina Annab, who kept her post in this month's cabinet shuffle, played down reports of declining tourist numbers during a recent news conference.
"It's business as usual and the cancellations have been minimal. Unfortunately, as for danger, there is no place that is 100 percent safe," Annab said. The tourism ministry did not respond to requests for further comment.
When spring finally arrives, bringing warmer weather and wild-flower-covered hills, Ahmad and his colleagues hope more tourists will flock back to the country.
Until then, they must persevere, returning to Petra yet again without knowing whether the next day will bring work.
The event - organized with the support of Jordan's tourism and antiquities ministry and the Jordan Tourism Board - will be held alongside the inauguration of the 650-km Jordan Trail, which will cross 52 villages across the country. The Jordan Trail is expected to lead to economic growth for the local communities.
Taking part will be tourism boards, travel agents and representatives of hotel facilities strongly supporting sustainable, responsible and adventure tourism that are members of the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA), a body that has 1,100 associates in 90 countries.
Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Lina Annab Tuesday said Jordan's largest tourism investments are located in Amman, the Dead Sea and Aqaba, pointing out that the value of current investments in Aqaba and the Dead Sea amount to about JOD16 billion.
Annab is heading the Jordanian delegation participating in the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2017 in Dubai, running through Thursday with the participation of 159 countries.
She told Petra that most recent include the Ayla Oasis, which includes the first 18-hole golf course designed by the legendary golfer Greg Norman, Saraya Aqaba and Marsa Zayed, in the southern port of Aqaba.
Annab said Amman is currently witnessing significant tourism investments, such as the St. Regis and Fairmont hotel projects and the Abdali Boulevard project, which includes Rotana hotels and a chain of international restaurants.
ATM 2017 will welcome over 2,600 confirmed exhibitors – with 100 exhibiting for the first time – across 65 national pavilions, and an expected number of visitors of 30,000.
Weeks after last month's deadly castle siege in the Jordanian city of Karak, police maintained a daily presence in an armoured Jeep in the heart of the capital Amman.
A helmeted police officer constantly manned the heavy machinegun affixed to the Jeep's roof, scanning cars and pedestrians as they navigated through the central neighbourhood of Jabal al-Weibdeh. Other officers stopped and searched vehicles and pedestrians, a patrol that continued up until last week.
A vibrant neighbourhood comprising Jordanian Muslims, Christians and foreigners, Jabal al-Weibdeh is in many ways an example of the tolerant image that Jordan wants to project to the world - while the heavy, yet temporary police presence illustrates the fine line that Jordan must tread between visible security and not deterring tourists.
In 2015, tourism contributed 6 percent directly to Jordan's GDP, and more than 20 percent indirectly, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.
After the Karak siege, the United States warned its citizens of "threats from terrorist groups throughout Jordan", adding to fears about the impacts of the attack on Jordan's tourism sector.
The modern Jordanian tourism industry was born out of conflict - in particular, Israel's capture and occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank in 1967, said Suleiman Farajat, an assistant professor of tourism at the University of Jordan.
"When Jordan lost the West Bank in 1967, it became very important to focus on Jordanian sites in the east, starting from Petra, where the first management plan was done in 1968," Farajat told Al Jazeera.
With the rise of oil in the region in the 1970s, the inscription of Petra as a World Heritage Site in 1985, and the filming of 1989's Indiana Jones in Petra, Jordan's international profile rose. The country's peace treaty with Israel in 1994, Farajat said, was a real turning point "when numbers of tourists doubled, and when the infrastructure of tourism became more visible".
But subsequent regional conflicts, including the 2003 Iraq war and the ongoing violence in Syria and Iraq, have heavily impacted Jordan's tourism industry, causing tourist numbers to fall. Visitor numbers to Petra were halved between 2014 and 2015, dropping from 800,000 to 400,000.
Tourism industry workers are concerned about what lies ahead. Ahmad, a tour guide who works at the Greco-Roman ruins at Jerash - which were also under tightened security after the Karak siege - has witnessed the steady decline in numbers first-hand.
Since the outbreak of Syria's civil war in 2011, he estimates there has been an 80 percent drop in tourists to Jerash.
"In the high season, we used to do up to five tours a day, each tour guide. Now in the high season we do one every day, sometimes one every two days," said Ahmad, who did not provide a last name.
He noted that his profession faces a secondary threat from the increased automation of tour-guide services, including cheaper, headphone audio-guided tours.
When they do come to Jordan, tourists' demographics have also changed, Ahmad said including the replacement of "retirees, Americans, Europeans, on a regular, or traditional tour", with younger, often poorer, tourists.
"This is reflected in the budget of the tourist. Mostly, the majority come here on a tight budget," he explained, noting that entrance fees to some of Jordan's tourist sites may be prohibitively high. A one-month entry visa to Jordan costs 40 Jordanian dinars ($56), while the entrance fee for a one-day visit to Petra is 50 dinars ($70).
When Ahmad began working as a tour guide in 2010, it was a coveted career, he said.
"In the past it used to be a full-time job, and they used to make very good money. It was the best job to do in Jordan. Some professors left teaching in universities and became tour guides," he explained. "But now it's the opposite. Tour guides are looking for other jobs."
As many tour guides struggle to maintain a steady income and morale plummets, Farajat said, this "indirectly influences the quality of service and the culture of service", harming Jordan's competitive advantage in the international market.
Still, with attacks being staged everywhere from Paris to Berlin, tourists are realising that "it could happen anywhere," Ahmad noted.
"We had the attack in Karak, and the attack in Germany. How many people were killed here, and there? In Jordan, 10. In Germany, 12," Ahmad recalled telling a group of young, western tourists in Karak on the day of last month's siege.
If you talk about terrorism, now it's everywhere in the world. So there's no point in avoiding this country or that, because it can happen in every country.
Farajat cited the importance of tourism as a way to counter Islamophobic narratives in the West.
It's very important in this time of Islamophobia, that tourists come here and see that we are normal people. We don't bite, he said with a laugh. That's important, right?
Certain areas of Jordan, especially the tourist draws of Jerash, Petra, Wadi Rum and Aqaba - may be hit hardest by any fallout from the Karak siege.
But Tourism Minister Lina Annab, who kept her post in this month's cabinet shuffle, played down reports of declining tourist numbers during a recent news conference.
"It's business as usual and the cancellations have been minimal. Unfortunately, as for danger, there is no place that is 100 percent safe," Annab said. The tourism ministry did not respond to requests for further comment.
When spring finally arrives, bringing warmer weather and wild-flower-covered hills, Ahmad and his colleagues hope more tourists will flock back to the country.
Until then, they must persevere, returning to Petra yet again without knowing whether the next day will bring work.
Wednesday, 22 March 2017
JORDAN: Struggling To Attract Tourists Again
For weeks after last month's deadly castle siege in the Jordanian city of Karak, police maintained a daily presence in an armoured Jeep in the heart of the capital Amman.
A helmeted police officer constantly manned the heavy machinegun affixed to the Jeep's roof, scanning cars and pedestrians as they navigated through the central neighbourhood of Jabal al-Weibdeh.
Other officers stopped and searched vehicles and pedestrians, a patrol that continued up until last week.
A vibrant neighbourhood comprising Jordanian Muslims, Christians and foreigners, Jabal al-Weibdeh is in many ways an example of the tolerant image that Jordan wants to project to the world - while the heavy, yet temporary police presence illustrates the fine line that Jordan must tread between visible security and not deterring tourists.
In 2015, tourism contributed 6 percent directly to Jordan's GDP, and more than 20 percent indirectly, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.
After the Karak siege, the United States warned its citizens of "threats from terrorist groups throughout Jordan", adding to fears about the impacts of the attack on Jordan's tourism sector.
The modern Jordanian tourism industry was born out of conflict - in particular, Israel's capture and occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank in 1967, said Suleiman Farajat, an assistant professor of tourism at the University of Jordan.
"When Jordan lost the West Bank in 1967, it became very important to focus on Jordanian sites in the east, starting from Petra, where the first management plan was done in 1968," Farajat said.
With the rise of oil in the region in the 1970s, the inscription of Petra as a World Heritage Site in 1985, and the filming of 1989's Indiana Jones in Petra, Jordan's international profile rose.
The country's peace treaty with Israel in 1994, Farajat said, was a real turning point "when numbers of tourists doubled, and when the infrastructure of tourism became more visible"
But subsequent regional conflicts, including the 2003 Iraq war and the ongoing violence in Syria and Iraq, have heavily impacted Jordan's tourism industry, causing tourist numbers to fall.
Visitor numbers to Petra fell between 2014 and 2015, dropping from 800,000 to 400,000.
Tourism industry workers are concerned about what lies ahead.
Ahmad, a tour guide who works at the Greco-Roman ruins at Jerash - which were also under tightened security after the Karak siege - has witnessed the steady decline in numbers first-hand.
Since the outbreak of Syria's civil war in 2011, he estimates there has been an 80 percent drop in tourists to Jerash.
"In the high season, we used to do up to five tours a day, each tour guide.
Now in the high season we do one every day, sometimes one every two days," said Ahmad. He noted that his profession faces a secondary threat from the increased automation of tour-guide services, including cheaper, headphone audio-guided tours.
When they do come to Jordan, tourists' demographics have also changed, Ahmad said, including the replacement of "retirees, Americans, Europeans, on a regular, or traditional tour", with younger, often poorer, tourists.
"This is reflected in the budget of the tourist. Mostly, the majority come here on a tight budget," he explained, noting that entrance fees to some of Jordan's tourist sites may be prohibitively high.
A one-month entry visa to Jordan costs 40 Jordanian dinars ($56), while the entrance fee for a one-day visit to Petra is 50 dinars ($70).
When Ahmad began working as a tour guide in 2010, it was a coveted career, he said.
"In the past it used to be a full-time job, and they used to make very good money. It was the best job to do in Jordan.
Some professors left teaching in universities and became tour guides," he explained. "But now it's the opposite. Tour guides are looking for other jobs."
As many tour guides struggle to maintain a steady income and morale plummets, Farajat said, this "indirectly influences the quality of service and the culture of service", harming Jordan's competitive advantage in the international market.
Still, with attacks being staged everywhere from Paris to Berlin, tourists are realising that "it could happen anywhere," Ahmad noted.
"We had the attack in Karak, and the attack in Germany. How many people were killed here, and there? In Jordan, 10. In Germany, 12," Ahmad recalled telling a group of young, western tourists in Karak on the day of last month's siege.
"If you talk about terrorism, now it's everywhere in the world. So there's no point in avoiding this country or that, because it can happen in every country."
Farajat cited the importance of tourism as a way to counter Islamophobic narratives in the West.
"It's very important in this time of Islamophobia, that tourists come here and see that we are normal people. We don't bite," he said with a laugh. "That's important, right?"
Certain areas of Jordan - especially the tourist draws of Jerash, Petra, Wadi Rum and Aqaba - may be hit hardest by any fallout from the Karak siege.
But Tourism Minister Lina Annab, who kept her post in this month's cabinet shuffle, played down reports of declining tourist numbers during a recent news conference.
"It's business as usual and the cancellations have been minimal. Unfortunately, as for danger, there is no place that is 100 percent safe," Annab said.
When spring finally arrives, bringing warmer weather and wild-flower-covered hills, Ahmad and his colleagues hope more tourists will flock back to the country.
Until then, they must persevere, returning to Petra yet again without knowing whether the next day will bring work.
A helmeted police officer constantly manned the heavy machinegun affixed to the Jeep's roof, scanning cars and pedestrians as they navigated through the central neighbourhood of Jabal al-Weibdeh.
Other officers stopped and searched vehicles and pedestrians, a patrol that continued up until last week.
A vibrant neighbourhood comprising Jordanian Muslims, Christians and foreigners, Jabal al-Weibdeh is in many ways an example of the tolerant image that Jordan wants to project to the world - while the heavy, yet temporary police presence illustrates the fine line that Jordan must tread between visible security and not deterring tourists.
In 2015, tourism contributed 6 percent directly to Jordan's GDP, and more than 20 percent indirectly, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council.
After the Karak siege, the United States warned its citizens of "threats from terrorist groups throughout Jordan", adding to fears about the impacts of the attack on Jordan's tourism sector.
The modern Jordanian tourism industry was born out of conflict - in particular, Israel's capture and occupation of East Jerusalem and the West Bank in 1967, said Suleiman Farajat, an assistant professor of tourism at the University of Jordan.
"When Jordan lost the West Bank in 1967, it became very important to focus on Jordanian sites in the east, starting from Petra, where the first management plan was done in 1968," Farajat said.
With the rise of oil in the region in the 1970s, the inscription of Petra as a World Heritage Site in 1985, and the filming of 1989's Indiana Jones in Petra, Jordan's international profile rose.
The country's peace treaty with Israel in 1994, Farajat said, was a real turning point "when numbers of tourists doubled, and when the infrastructure of tourism became more visible"
But subsequent regional conflicts, including the 2003 Iraq war and the ongoing violence in Syria and Iraq, have heavily impacted Jordan's tourism industry, causing tourist numbers to fall.
Visitor numbers to Petra fell between 2014 and 2015, dropping from 800,000 to 400,000.
Tourism industry workers are concerned about what lies ahead.
Ahmad, a tour guide who works at the Greco-Roman ruins at Jerash - which were also under tightened security after the Karak siege - has witnessed the steady decline in numbers first-hand.
Since the outbreak of Syria's civil war in 2011, he estimates there has been an 80 percent drop in tourists to Jerash.
"In the high season, we used to do up to five tours a day, each tour guide.
Now in the high season we do one every day, sometimes one every two days," said Ahmad. He noted that his profession faces a secondary threat from the increased automation of tour-guide services, including cheaper, headphone audio-guided tours.
When they do come to Jordan, tourists' demographics have also changed, Ahmad said, including the replacement of "retirees, Americans, Europeans, on a regular, or traditional tour", with younger, often poorer, tourists.
"This is reflected in the budget of the tourist. Mostly, the majority come here on a tight budget," he explained, noting that entrance fees to some of Jordan's tourist sites may be prohibitively high.
A one-month entry visa to Jordan costs 40 Jordanian dinars ($56), while the entrance fee for a one-day visit to Petra is 50 dinars ($70).
When Ahmad began working as a tour guide in 2010, it was a coveted career, he said.
"In the past it used to be a full-time job, and they used to make very good money. It was the best job to do in Jordan.
Some professors left teaching in universities and became tour guides," he explained. "But now it's the opposite. Tour guides are looking for other jobs."
As many tour guides struggle to maintain a steady income and morale plummets, Farajat said, this "indirectly influences the quality of service and the culture of service", harming Jordan's competitive advantage in the international market.
Still, with attacks being staged everywhere from Paris to Berlin, tourists are realising that "it could happen anywhere," Ahmad noted.
"We had the attack in Karak, and the attack in Germany. How many people were killed here, and there? In Jordan, 10. In Germany, 12," Ahmad recalled telling a group of young, western tourists in Karak on the day of last month's siege.
"If you talk about terrorism, now it's everywhere in the world. So there's no point in avoiding this country or that, because it can happen in every country."
Farajat cited the importance of tourism as a way to counter Islamophobic narratives in the West.
"It's very important in this time of Islamophobia, that tourists come here and see that we are normal people. We don't bite," he said with a laugh. "That's important, right?"
Certain areas of Jordan - especially the tourist draws of Jerash, Petra, Wadi Rum and Aqaba - may be hit hardest by any fallout from the Karak siege.
But Tourism Minister Lina Annab, who kept her post in this month's cabinet shuffle, played down reports of declining tourist numbers during a recent news conference.
"It's business as usual and the cancellations have been minimal. Unfortunately, as for danger, there is no place that is 100 percent safe," Annab said.
When spring finally arrives, bringing warmer weather and wild-flower-covered hills, Ahmad and his colleagues hope more tourists will flock back to the country.
Until then, they must persevere, returning to Petra yet again without knowing whether the next day will bring work.
Thursday, 24 December 2015
JORDAN: Arabs And Jordanians To Pay Same Tourist Site Entry Fees
The Cabinet on Wednesday extended a decision to charge Arab tourists the same entry fees as Jordanians when they visit tourist and archaeological sites until December 31, 2016.
The decision, which was first taken in 2014 and previously extended for this year, is aimed at promoting tourism and enhancing Jordan's competitiveness to attract Arab tourists.
The government took several decisions and measures recently in order to support the tourism sector and enable it to overcome the negative repercussions of regional unrest.
Jordan was able to reduce its tourism losses to 6 per cent this year, although the expected loss in revenues was between 20 and 25 per cent, the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) said earlier this week.
Earlier this year, the Cabinet reduced electricity tariffs for hotels and annulled entry visa fees for visitors who buy unified tickets to tourist sites to support the tourism sector.
The Council of Ministers also lowered the fees for visitors entering through land border crossings from JD40 to JD10 and removed the special tax on tickets for regular flights from Amman to Aqaba.
The JTB is promoting Jordan's tourist attractions in several European markets, placing advertisements on billboards and public transport means.
These campaigns are expected to pay off in 2016, with a rise in tourist numbers, Tourism Minister Nayef Al Fayez said this week during a visit by Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour to the JTB.
The decision, which was first taken in 2014 and previously extended for this year, is aimed at promoting tourism and enhancing Jordan's competitiveness to attract Arab tourists.
The government took several decisions and measures recently in order to support the tourism sector and enable it to overcome the negative repercussions of regional unrest.
Jordan was able to reduce its tourism losses to 6 per cent this year, although the expected loss in revenues was between 20 and 25 per cent, the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) said earlier this week.
Earlier this year, the Cabinet reduced electricity tariffs for hotels and annulled entry visa fees for visitors who buy unified tickets to tourist sites to support the tourism sector.
The Council of Ministers also lowered the fees for visitors entering through land border crossings from JD40 to JD10 and removed the special tax on tickets for regular flights from Amman to Aqaba.
The JTB is promoting Jordan's tourist attractions in several European markets, placing advertisements on billboards and public transport means.
These campaigns are expected to pay off in 2016, with a rise in tourist numbers, Tourism Minister Nayef Al Fayez said this week during a visit by Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour to the JTB.
Thursday, 19 November 2015
EGYPT: Aqaba To Offer Alternative To Sharm El-Sheikh?
Days after the Russian plane crashed in Sinai, the UK halted all flights to Sharm El-Sheikh until the results of the investigation were revealed. Russia shortly followed suit by cancelling all flights to and from Egypt. The Tourism Board in Jordan adopted new measures to encourage Russian tourists to visit Jordan, offering an alternative to the Egypt’s most famous tourism spots in Sinai.
According to the Jordan Times, Managing Director of the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) Abbed Al-Razzaq Arabiyat said they are contacting with Russian and British tour operators to promote tourism to the city of Aqaba. The JTB called on the Royal Wings to offer the Russian market cheaper flights to encourage Russians to visit Jordan, which was welcomed by the airline.
Russian tourism constituted 35% of the total tourism to Egypt, with the tourists reaching two million over the last nine months. The total of Russian tourism expenditure in 2014 amounted to $2.5m out of $7.3m, the total tourism expenditure.
In an attempt to support national tourism, some travel agencies launched packages to Sharm El-Sheikh at affordable prices, such as Tez Tour Egypt.
Jordan enjoys various touristic attractions that can become competition to those of Egypt, especially following the latest incident. The coastal city of Aqaba on the Red Sea has a similar climate to Sharm El-Sheikh and the historical city of Petra could grow to become a destination to tourists interested in history and archaeology. Wadi Rum or the Valley of the Moon can also serve as an alternative desert safari spot. The Dead Sea is already one of the world’s top health resorts.
Egyptian tourism will also have to compete with Easyjet’s other favourable destinations; Morocco, where the cities of Agadir, Casablanca, Essaouira, and Marrakech have been prominent destinations after Egypt’s Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh. Now that the airliner’s flights to Sharm El-Sheikh are on pause, demand on flights to Morocco is expected to increase.
According to the Jordan Times, Managing Director of the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) Abbed Al-Razzaq Arabiyat said they are contacting with Russian and British tour operators to promote tourism to the city of Aqaba. The JTB called on the Royal Wings to offer the Russian market cheaper flights to encourage Russians to visit Jordan, which was welcomed by the airline.
Russian tourism constituted 35% of the total tourism to Egypt, with the tourists reaching two million over the last nine months. The total of Russian tourism expenditure in 2014 amounted to $2.5m out of $7.3m, the total tourism expenditure.
In an attempt to support national tourism, some travel agencies launched packages to Sharm El-Sheikh at affordable prices, such as Tez Tour Egypt.
Jordan enjoys various touristic attractions that can become competition to those of Egypt, especially following the latest incident. The coastal city of Aqaba on the Red Sea has a similar climate to Sharm El-Sheikh and the historical city of Petra could grow to become a destination to tourists interested in history and archaeology. Wadi Rum or the Valley of the Moon can also serve as an alternative desert safari spot. The Dead Sea is already one of the world’s top health resorts.
Egyptian tourism will also have to compete with Easyjet’s other favourable destinations; Morocco, where the cities of Agadir, Casablanca, Essaouira, and Marrakech have been prominent destinations after Egypt’s Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh. Now that the airliner’s flights to Sharm El-Sheikh are on pause, demand on flights to Morocco is expected to increase.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)