While the tourism sector in the Kingdom has been improving, thanks to tourism diversity and the development of the sector in recent years, the regional situation, in addition to the lack of attention to infrastructure, high energy costs and taxes, and the lack of promotional campaigns, prevent attracting value-added investments.
With this vision, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of MENA Hotels, Michel Nazzal, described the situation of the tourism sector, which represents, according to him, a great gateway to work and invest in Jordan, and has tourism and heritage elements that make it the leading Arab country in this field, as it’s home to 28,000 officially registered archaeological sites.
During the panel discussion held by the Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD), entitled: “The challenges of the tourism sector in light of the current political situation”, within the framework of the Palestinian Cause program and within the follow-up and documentation of the developments of the war in Palestine, Nazzal said that the basis for improving investment in the tourism sector is achieved by establishing tourism initiatives in distant governorates, such as hotel rooms and other accommodations.
Nazzal explained that, in recent years, the tourism sector in Jordan has not been stable, as a result of the unstable conditions in neighboring countries. Hence, it is important to have marketing campaigns to attract investments and tourists, considering that “the only solution to revive tourism in light of the current political conditions is to attract Arab conferences, seminars and exhibitions to be held in the capital Amman, the Dead Sea, and Aqaba.”
Nazzal, who is himself an investor in the tourism and hotels sector, stressed that there are a number of challenges facing investors in the sector, namely lengthy government transactions where it takes too long for investors to obtain approvals to start their projects, in addition to taxes, which constitute a major challenge, as well as the difficulty of obtaining funding for large and huge projects.
Nazzal called on all concerned authorities to overcome these challenges that hinder and limit the size of investment, as well as upgrading infrastructure and services and spreading awareness among citizens of the importance of the sector, in addition to activating partnership between all sectors, with the importance of continuing promotion and marketing campaigns to attract the largest possible number of tourists and attract tourism and economic investments to Jordan.
Based on the importance of the sector in sustainable development and its ability to generate job opportunities, as a vital sector and a major tributary to the national economy, the participants in the meeting proposed working to promote medical tourism in Amman and the Dead Sea, by carrying out marketing campaigns to encourage Arabs and non-Arabs to visit the country, as well as working on marketing religious tourism, and addressing international church councils to highlight the importance of Jordanian religious sites, especially Christian pilgrimage sites, of which Jordan contains five internationally recognized sites.
Moreover, the participants also called for the need for coordination between all authorities, facilitating inspection procedures for tourists, raising citizens’ awareness of the importance of activating tourist sites, providing a proactive response plan to protect the sector in the event of crises or certain political circumstances, as well as rehabilitating health facilities in some touristic and archaeological sites, and considering the issue of high prices and the availability of services in all their forms.
The participants also called for focusing on supporting the northern regions of Jordan by investing in the establishment of hotels and providing services in tourist, archaeological, and natural facilities that attract tourists, leading to the need to promote Jordan online and through social media, as it has become the most popular way to attract tourists in various countries of the world, while also promoting domestic tourism, which would increase economic growth rates and local revenues during the coming period.
