The top secret to Jordan’s improved summer time tourism year

Jordan’s Minister of Tourism Nayef al Fayez suggests that the magic formula to his country’s enhanced summertime tourism time is stringent adherence to overall health rules.

Al Fayez reported that the plan has created dividends amid a marked rise in inter-Arab tourism above the summer months, and he is hopeful that in the slide intercontinental tourism also will replicate this adjust. 

“We are not nonetheless hitting the document selection of (travellers that arrived in) 2019 but we have had a great summer season in terms of travellers coming to Jordan from Arab international locations. We hope that the drop/winter period for worldwide tourism will also be a marked advancement,” he advised The Media Line.

Motels in Jordan have experienced a 70% occupancy charge this summer, in accordance to the Jordan Lodges Association. 
A single of the reasons for the enhanced tourism numbers was the reality that Jordan’s Ministry of Tourism was given precedence in obtaining vaccines towards the coronavirus.

Jordan’s Minister of Tourism Nayef al Fayez. (credit history: COURTESY/JORDANIAN MINISTRY OF TOURISM)

“Just right after the professional medical practitioners, the tourism workers ended up presented priority in vaccination. We designed guaranteed all tourism-associated individuals, which integrated several youthful people today, received the vaccine,” according to the minister. In addition, Al Fayez said that rather of waiting for tourism employees to arrive to an agreed-on location, the Ministry of Overall health went to them. “We went to the resort owner’s association, tourism place of work unions, and guidebook unions and made it effortless for them to get the needed vaccine,” he said.

Just one of the early accomplishment stories was the thought of a ‘golden triangle.’ “We noticed that Petra, Wadi Rum and Aqaba are all sparsely populated even nevertheless they are significant attraction web sites, so we designed a golden triangle the place we vaccinated almost all the persons dwelling in individuals destinations and made sure no one entered unless they had been vaccinated,” he explained

Al Fayez suggests that the put together effort and hard work of the ministries of wellbeing and tourism produced very clear benefits. Last calendar year the tourism marketplace brought in $1.5 billion and “we hope that this will be improved in the present yr,” he said.  By comparison, in 2019, the revenue from tourism attained $5.6 billion.

Jordan has produced it a lot less complicated to enter the kingdom if you are coming from a “safe” state with small coronavirus quantities. “You no longer will need to be tested two times. If you prove that you presently have taken a PCR test in the preceding 72 several hours you no longer have to have to be tested on arrival so extended as you are coming from a protected nation,” he reported.

In addition to Arab travelers, Jordan also was capable to make a breakthrough in Africa with the establishment of a typical method for Christian travelers from Nigeria to visit Jordan, which offers Jesus’ baptismal web-site as effectively as around 100 areas mentioned in the Bible. Jordan hopes that more and a lot more Christian travelers will comprehend that, in addition to checking out Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Nazareth, there are lots of spots in Jordan that have direct relevance to the Christian religion.

According to a analyze by the Earth Tourism Corporation, in cooperation with the Countrywide Academy of Tourism and Aviation Sciences Coaching in Jordan, dozens of lodges and extra than 400 vacationer eating places and 400 popular places to eat and cafes in Jordan have closed, leaving about 14,000 workers with out employment.

Tourism in Jordan makes up 13% of the gross domestic product.