Investment in tourism industry carries on despite pandemic hurdles — Fayez

AMMAN — Investment in the Kingdom's tourism sector "has not stopped" despite the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, Minister of Tourism Nayef Fayez said.

Addressing a dialogue session held by the Jordanian Economic Forum (JEF), Fayez said that the will to introduce tourism-related projects, whether tourist hotels and restaurants or souvenir shops, has not stopped.

He cited the opening of the Ritz-Carlton in Amman, which will provide 500 job opportunities, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Saturday.

Fayez reviewed aspects of Jordan's national tourism strategy for 2021-2025 and its implementation mechanisms, adding that it seeks to develop the Kingdom's tourism product, human resources, marketing, management, reforms and heritage conservation.

Through the strategy, the minister said that Jordan seeks to exceed the 2019 figures increasing tourist numbers by 2025 to top the 2019 rates, in which Jordan welcomed 5.3 million visitors.

He added that this effort also aims to achieve tourism revenues similar to those of 2019, which amounted to JD4.1 billion, by 2024, in addition to increasing direct employment in the tourism sector to exceed 2019 figures in 2023.

Fayez said that tourism revenues and tourist numbers in 2021 exceeded the target numbers of 1.9 million visitors, where the Kingdom welcomed around 2.36 million tourists in 2021, which is 90 per cent higher than 2020.

Citing figures by the Central Bank of Jordan, the minister said that tourism revenues in 2021 totalled JD1.9 billion, 90 per cent higher than the revenues achieved in 2020, when the Kingdom achieved some JD1 billion as a result of the pandemic repercussions.