Domestic tourism to flourish during Eid Al Adha — sector representative

AMMAN — The occupancy rate in Aqaba and Wadi Rum is expected to reach 100 per cent during Eid Al Adha, according to a sector representative at the Jordan Society of Tourism and Travel Agents (JSTA).

During the period before Eid, registration for the Ministry of Tourism’s programme “Urdun Jannah”, which encourages domestic tourism, witnessed a hike, head of the domestic tourism committee Rafe’ Tahat at JSTA told The Jordan Times over the phone on Tuesday.

In light of restrictions on international flights, people leaned more towards domestic tourism, Tahat said, noting that 40 packages with different routes and trips are available domestically, each focusing on different areas with a certain number of days and nights.

Tahat expected that domestic tourism will boom in the north, but said the focus would be more on the south as there are more places available for accommodation, especially Aqaba and Wadi Rum.

“If someone purchases a package from the programme, which is available through the Jordan Tourism Board [JTB], one will be able to extend the number of days of the trip and still receive the applicable discounts and offers,” he said.

“For example, if a person registers for a two-night trip, and then while on the trip, they add more days and nights, the discounts and offers will still be applicable to fees paid for the extension,” Tahat said.

In the four days of the Eid Al Adha holiday, Tahat expects there will be 200 tourism buses moving around the Kingdom, noting that “people need a breather after the coronavirus lockdown and curfews they experienced”.

The Tourism Ministry issued a statement last week, in which it said domestic tourism had attracted 13,231 subscribers within two weeks of activating the Urdun Jannah’s second season, under the slogan “Our Jordan is Good”, covering all governorates.

In the statement, the ministry said that over 8,000 citizens registered in the second season through the Jannah.jo application; of which 5,731 chose to travel through free-of-charge tourism buses available through the programme, while 2,359 used their own vehicles, benefitting from the discounts and offers available. 

The statement added that a total of 5,141 people registered for domestic tourism through travel agents. 

The tourism board noted in a separate statement that, in the second season of the programme, the involvement of tourism bureaus, local airlines, the Jordan Tour Guides Association, the Tourist Transportation Association and tourist restaurants was maximised.

Caravans were set up at each tourist destination with a capacity of 75 per cent to ensure the implementation of public safety protocols and protect the participants’ health by facilitating physical distancing measures.

The ministry and the JTB required participants, service providers and tour guides of Urdun Jannah second season to download the “Aman” application to identify potentially coronavirus infected people in case that it is later discovered that an infected participant was among any of the programme’s trips.