Jordan is on a mission to boost tourism to the country. The fallout of the crises in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria and Libya has impacted on tourism to the region according to the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB).
JTB’s MD Nayef Al-Fayez, on a promotional trip to the UK recently, told CMW: “The blessings of being strategically located between East and West have been outweighed by the stereotypes of being part of a volatile Middle East.
“We expect regional developments to impact the tourism sector’s performance in the coming months as negative reporting and misconceptions have mistakenly put Jordan in the same basket of turbulent countries.”
Al-Fayez stressed that while JTB was engaged in an effort to correct media misconceptions created by coverage of regional unrest, it remains concerned that media reporting of any healthy democratic and peaceful political activity in the Kingdom was immediately stereotyped as “unrest” and “turbulent”.
Al-Fayez commented on recent demonstrations in Amman and said they were peaceful in nature and that they reflected the Kingdom’s democratic practices and tolerance. He said international media has not been interested in such exercises in freedom of expressions until after the turmoil in Tunisia and Egypt.
He also stressed that Jordan has a long-standing reputation as a very safe, secure and hospitable destination. “We are working to correct false impressions of the West, which were driven by how the region was being reported,” he said.
JTB’s visit to the UK to promote the area as a tourism destination coincides with Easyjet’s recent announcement of a new route to Amman in Jordan from London Gatwick. The flying time exceeds five hours and will become the airline’s longest one-way leg.
JTB said it was “encouraged” by indicators for January which ushered a seven per cent increase in revenues over the same month of 2010, and a 6.1 per cent increase in the number of visitors to the Kingdom. During 2010, total arrivals grew by almost 20 per cent over 2009 to reach 4.6 million overnight visitors (8.2 million total arrivals including day visitors). Visitors from the Americas grew by 12 per cent, Europe by 22 per cent, Asia-Pacific by 25 per cent, while Asia scored a 31 per cent increase during 2010.
In the Middle East Meetings Industry Report 2011, Jordan came fourth to Morocco, Egypt and UAE with 13 per cent of buyers questioned organising events there in the last 12 months. Jordan fared above Qatar, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Oman, among others. The destination was in sixth place when buyers were asked where they intended to hold events in the next 12 months, with 18 per cent showing interest in the area. It was also rated fourth among buyers who were asked to rate the destination for excellence following an event there, with an excellence rating of 3.01 out of four.
Jordan is particularly popular with the IT, pharmaceutical and tourism sectors, where event spend is high, according to JTB. The construction sector too is important for the Kingdom, in light of its location in relation to Iraq.
Al-Fayez said: “Jordan is safe and stable. We would urge people to come and enjoy what the country has to offer, and judge for themselves.”
——————————————————————————————————————————–
Jordan: fast facts
- The World Economic Forum on the Middle East is an important event for the country. It will be held between 21 and 23 October at the Dead Sea in Jordan and will involve Middle East stakeholders meeting to shape and contribute to the process of change in the region
- At the beginning of the year, the Red Sea port city of Aqaba in Jordan became the Arab tourism capital
- Real power rests with the King, multi-party politics was introduced in 1992.
Any comments? Email cmw@mashmedia.net
