AMMAN -- Despite full occupancy in some of Aqaba's 4-and 5-star hotels, most hoteliers were disappointed over the Eid Al Adha vacation as the predicted influx of tourists failed to materialise.
Accustomed to peak activity during such holidays, hotel proprietors in the Red Sea resort were surprised by the weak turn-out.
"I've been in the business for 14 years and have seen Eid holidays come and go, but never has business been so slow," said Amer Awamleh, head of reservations at the 3-star Petra International Hotel in Aqaba.
"Traffic on the streets was normal and even shops that usually stay open during such holidays closed," he added.
Hoteliers blamed the poor turn-out on several factors, including the timing of the holiday (mid-month), bad weather conditions and the fact that university exams have just finished.
Reservations manager at the 3-star Petra International Hotel Najeeb Salameh said the hotel had 30 per cent occupancy on the first day of the holiday climbing to 60 per cent on Friday and Saturday.
Business at the 4-star Golden Tulip Hotel was slightly better, reaching 90 per cent occupancy by Saturday but still below the expected full capacity, according to the hotel's front office manager Mamoun Alawneh.
"We expected to be operating at full capacity for at least three out of the five days and even maintained our regular room rate prices, " said Alawneh.
"Even the streets in Aqaba which are usually packed during the Eid holidays were quiet. This year was an exception," he added.
Ekrema Hassan, sales manager at the 4-star Aqaba Gulf Hotel also agreed that business was unusually slow. Hassan said hotel occupancy stood between 70-75 per cent over the holiday.
"I didn't expect the regular turn-out of visitors this Eid mainly because of the timing of the holiday. A lot of people expected Eid to fall on Friday but it turned out to be on Thursday," said Hassan.
"The weather wasn't as good as usual so perhaps that was another factor," he added.
According to Hassan, as a last minute attempt to attract more visitors the hotel dropped the price of a double room from JD65 to JD55 but still business remained slow.
Petra International Hotel also slashed the room rate from JD48 to JD20 but with little effect.
On the other hand, business was brisk at the 5-star Aqaba Movenpick. According to the hotel's reservations officer Ismael Bani Issa, the Movenpick did better than it had anticipated with 100 per cent occupancy during the first three days of the holiday.
Awamleh, who has been in the hospitality business for 14 years, said the lack of visitors had little to do with either the bad weather or the timing of Eid.
According to Awamleh, the blame lies with Jordan Television which broadcast reports a few days before the holiday saying hotels were reaching full capacity.
"During times like these, hotels usually take 60 per cent reservations while 40 per cent are walk-ins who decide to book a room at the last minute," said Awamleh.
"But no one came and no one called and I'm convinced that it was largely due to the television report," he added.
Awamleh complained that the report gave an "inaccurate" picture of the status of hotel reservations in Aqaba prior to the Eid holiday.
The report, which was based on ASEZA figures, was broadcast on Tuesday and Wednesday before the holiday.
According to an ASEZA official, the figures were based on various hotels in the area.
According to a report published Sunday in Al Dustour, ASEZA officials noted that some 30,000 people had flocked to the sea resort with most hotels registering more than 90 per cent reservations.
But a reservations officer at Al Cazar Hotel said the figures were inaccurate as most hotels reported comparatively lower rates of visitors than previous years.
By Dalya Dajani
© Jordan Times 2005
