jordan pulse -

Tourism Minister Makram Al-Qaisi revealed that hotel reservations in Jordan have declined by 50% since the start of the war on Gaza on October 7th.

Al-Qaisi told Al-Mamlaka that demand for tourist sites has declined by 40% since the start of the war, noting that reservations for tourist restaurants have declined by 60-70%, according to data received from the most visited tourist sites such as Petra, in addition to data issued by tourism associations.

Al-Qaisi added that 23 charter flights and 26 ship flights to Aqaba have been cancelled, since the start of the war, until the end of the year, pointing out that these cancellations are causing losses to hotel establishments, in addition to tourist group reservations, which include conference and party tourism programs, restaurant reservations, and daily-use facilities.

He stated that the latest bulletin of the Central Bank indicated that Jordanian tourism income amounted to 4.5 billion dinars, until the end of last October, when the number of visitors, according to the Ministry of Interior’s data, reached 5.5 million visitors, stressing that these numbers are excellent, and exceeded the ministry’s target.

He revealed that a team was formed headed by the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Tourism and the membership of a number of representatives of the tourism sector, specifically the Association of Hotels and Tourism and Travel Agents, in addition to representatives of Public Security, the Interior and Foreign Affairs, the Department of Antiquities, the Tourism Promotion Authority, the Petra Development Region Authority and the Aqaba Special Economic Zone, in order to deal with all matters. Updates related to the tourism sector, indicating that the committee will hold its meetings periodically and is in permanent session.

Al-Qaisi added: “We have greatly intensified our marketing campaigns in the Arab Gulf countries, specifically in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. I personally intend to arrange visits to a number of African countries to attract tourists, especially encouraging religious tourism, Christian religious tourism and Christian pilgrimage, especially with the presence of 5 sites recognized by the Vatican as sites.” Christian pilgrimage.

He pointed out that the Ministry will continue to participate in all international tourism exhibitions and intensify media activity, as is happening in the global tourism market in London, pointing out that a follow-up committee has been formed to study the economic impact of the decline in the number of tourists from the Ministry of Tourism, the General Organization for Social Security, the Development and Employment Fund, and the Central Bank.