Tourism unscathed following Aqaba toxic gas leak, say sector representatives

AMMAN — The recent toxic chlorine gas leak incident at the Aqaba port has had no impact on domestic and inbound tourism, according to sector representatives.

“No domestic travel cancellations have been recorded so far due to the Aqaba port incident,” Khaled Hijawwi, domestic tourism representative at Jordan Society of Tourism and Travel Agents (JSTA), told The Jordan Times. 

Hijawwi added that the government’s “swift response” to the incident has contributed to sustaining tourism in Aqaba. 

Mahmoud Khasawneh, international tourism representative at JSTA agreed with Hijjawi. 

“International travel reservations were not affected,” said Khasawneh. 

“The tourism sector is currently witnessing an accelerated recovery,” Khasawneh added.

He added that JSTA is expecting international tourism revenues to reach 35 per cent of the revenues that were recorded during 2019.

“We are expecting the tourism sector’s revenues to skyrocket in the last quarter of 2022,” Khasawneh said. 

Khasawneh said that over 250,000 international tourists visited Petra during the first half of 2022. 

“American, German, Italian and Spanish nationalities topped the list of travellers,” Khasawneh said. 

“We are improving our tourism product by adding Salt as well as Iraq Al Ameer to our tourism offerings,” Khasawneh added. 

However, Khasawneh stated that Jordan’s “Golden Triangle” —Petra, Wadi Rum and Aqaba — is still the major destination for international tourists. 

“Dead Sea and Um Qais have been added to international travellers’ packages for a more diversified offering,” Khasawneh stated. 

Meanwhile, an employee at a hotel in Aqaba told The Jordan Times that very few domestic tourists cancelled their reservations the day after the incident. 

“Only three reservations were cancelled after the incident,” Moath Shtewi, another reservation officer at another hotel in Aqaba, told The Jordan Times.