08 June 2003
AMMAN — The dark clouds left by a dearth of tourists at Petra may be breaking, with some European travellers booking package tours to Jordan for both work and play.
With the war in Iraq over and the road to regional stability perhaps beginning to be paved, Petra Regional Authority head, Shehadeh Abu Hdaib, believes there is a favourable climate for tourists' return to Jordan.
One harbinger of the change, he explained, is the meeting of 70 representatives from French tour and travel agencies at Petra, scheduled for later this month.
“The group will be arriving June 28 for three days for both work and exposure to the country's tourist sites,” said Abu Hdaib. During their stay at Petra, the group will also visit other cultural and archaeological sites including the scenic Wadi Rum and the new city of peace, the Red Sea resort of Aqaba.
According to Abu Hdaib, Petra's tourist decline should witness a gradual improvement over the course of the year, as hotels begin to book more and more foreign guests.
This turnaround is highly anticipated at the Petra Marriott Hotel, said receptionist Ahmad Awamreh. They are keeping their fingers crossed with regard to the arrival of a group of tourists from Europe and the US in September, the hotel employee told The Jordan Times.
“We really haven't had any substantial activity over the last few months. But things looked better in May and we expect a good turn out as far as foreign guests go come September and the months that follow,” said Awamreh.
They are pinning their hopes on maintaining their current level of reservations as the prevailing regional instabilities — including the SARS epidemic — had forced many to cancel trips to the Kingdom in April and May, he explained.
Hotels in and around Petra — particularly smaller, generally locally owned enterprises — have continued to face financial losses as they struggle to compete for the limited tourist turnout with four and five-star hotel chains.
Hotel owner Musa Tweisi told The Jordan Times in a previous interview that several hotels in the Wadi Musa area were forced to lay off more than 95 per cent of their workforce, as they could not maintain the overhead costs.
Tweisi said he had laid off over half of his 70 employees because of the slowdown.
But Petra official Abu Hdaib explained that the government was helping several Petra and Wadi Musa hotels facing a financial crisis by re-scheduling their debts until September 2004.
The slump in visitors has also left the Siq silent as well as other scenic spots in the ancient city of Petra. Department of Antiquities Director Mahmoud Helalat said the majority of tourists visiting the site currently are Jordanians or students visiting on school and university trips.
Of the estimated 9,000 tourists that visited the red rose city last month more than 6,000 were Jordanian or Arab nationals.
But at Petra's Movenpick Hotel, the head of reservations, Othman Salameen, said contacts with tour and travel agencies indicate that blue skies are ahead with a pick-up in tourists expected over the coming months.
Occupancy at the Movenpick hovered around five per cent from January until the end of the war on Iraq. But it has gradually picked up, hitting 20 per cent, with both local and foreign guests, explained Salameen.
“From what I've been told, travel agents believe the increase in tourist activity during low season is a positive indicator for what is to come during the forthcoming high season,” he told The Jordan Times.
AMMAN — The dark clouds left by a dearth of tourists at Petra may be breaking, with some European travellers booking package tours to Jordan for both work and play.
With the war in Iraq over and the road to regional stability perhaps beginning to be paved, Petra Regional Authority head, Shehadeh Abu Hdaib, believes there is a favourable climate for tourists' return to Jordan.
One harbinger of the change, he explained, is the meeting of 70 representatives from French tour and travel agencies at Petra, scheduled for later this month.
“The group will be arriving June 28 for three days for both work and exposure to the country's tourist sites,” said Abu Hdaib. During their stay at Petra, the group will also visit other cultural and archaeological sites including the scenic Wadi Rum and the new city of peace, the Red Sea resort of Aqaba.
According to Abu Hdaib, Petra's tourist decline should witness a gradual improvement over the course of the year, as hotels begin to book more and more foreign guests.
This turnaround is highly anticipated at the Petra Marriott Hotel, said receptionist Ahmad Awamreh. They are keeping their fingers crossed with regard to the arrival of a group of tourists from Europe and the US in September, the hotel employee told The Jordan Times.
“We really haven't had any substantial activity over the last few months. But things looked better in May and we expect a good turn out as far as foreign guests go come September and the months that follow,” said Awamreh.
They are pinning their hopes on maintaining their current level of reservations as the prevailing regional instabilities — including the SARS epidemic — had forced many to cancel trips to the Kingdom in April and May, he explained.
Hotels in and around Petra — particularly smaller, generally locally owned enterprises — have continued to face financial losses as they struggle to compete for the limited tourist turnout with four and five-star hotel chains.
Hotel owner Musa Tweisi told The Jordan Times in a previous interview that several hotels in the Wadi Musa area were forced to lay off more than 95 per cent of their workforce, as they could not maintain the overhead costs.
Tweisi said he had laid off over half of his 70 employees because of the slowdown.
But Petra official Abu Hdaib explained that the government was helping several Petra and Wadi Musa hotels facing a financial crisis by re-scheduling their debts until September 2004.
The slump in visitors has also left the Siq silent as well as other scenic spots in the ancient city of Petra. Department of Antiquities Director Mahmoud Helalat said the majority of tourists visiting the site currently are Jordanians or students visiting on school and university trips.
Of the estimated 9,000 tourists that visited the red rose city last month more than 6,000 were Jordanian or Arab nationals.
But at Petra's Movenpick Hotel, the head of reservations, Othman Salameen, said contacts with tour and travel agencies indicate that blue skies are ahead with a pick-up in tourists expected over the coming months.
Occupancy at the Movenpick hovered around five per cent from January until the end of the war on Iraq. But it has gradually picked up, hitting 20 per cent, with both local and foreign guests, explained Salameen.
“From what I've been told, travel agents believe the increase in tourist activity during low season is a positive indicator for what is to come during the forthcoming high season,” he told The Jordan Times.
By Dalya Dajani
© Jordan Times 2003
