JICA, PDTRA join hands to develop tourism master plan for Petra

AMMAN — Chief Representative of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Jordan Office Miyahara Chie and Chief Commissioner of Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority (PDTRA) Suleiman Farajat on Saturday signed the minutes of discussions for formulating a tourism development master plan for Petra region.

JICA has been cooperating with the PDTRA since 2014 through the Grant Aid for constructing Petra Museum and the Technical Cooperation Project for the community-based regional tourism development in Petra region, according to a PDTRA statement. 

Both projects aim to realise a more sustainable tourism environment, the statement added.

The museum displays and narrates the history of the Petra Archaeological Park and the Technical Cooperation Project aims to promote tourism focusing on community participation. 

“This master plan will be the roadmap for enhancing Petra‘s city status as one of the world’s best tourism destination for a country like Jordan that economically relies on the tourism sector. We fully understand the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, and the urgent needs of making tourism sector more self-reliant and resilient,” Miyahara was quoted in the statement as saying.

“Our main goal is to develop a new plan for the tourism sector in Petra that can cope up with the new tourism trends in the world. The sector would be able to respond to all challenges as well as recover faster from the huge loss from the crisis when the inbound tourists come back. This master plan would assist the PDTRA in this aspect as well,” added the JICA chief representative.

“We feel delighted to have the minutes of discussions signed today for formulating the tourism development master plan for Petra region. This master plan would support the PDTRA in planning the new tourism ecosystem and how it should build resilience and adapt to ‘new normal’,” Farajat said.

“Japan was always a great supporter to the tourism sector in Jordan, and in particular to Petra City. We are looking forward to benefitting from the Japanese expertise and to strengthen further our cooperation,” Farajat added.