Amman - The Jordanian Businessmen Association has called for reducing fees, taxes, and utility tariffs (electricity and water) for tourism offices and facilities, and for enhancing low-cost airlines to attract tourists to the kingdom.
اضافة اعلان
The association also emphasized the importance of training the workforce to help empower the tourism sector and restore its vitality.
During a meeting with the Tourism and Heritage Committee in the Senate on Saturday evening, the association highlighted the need for strengthening the partnership between the public and private sectors to support the tourism sector through investments in tourism projects, such as resorts, restaurants, and hotels in the northern and southern regions of the kingdom.
The goal is to train the workforce in these areas to provide job opportunities for Jordanian youth, in line with the objectives of the economic modernization vision.
The association also called for improving the services provided to tourists, developing infrastructure at tourist sites, and preparing additional health and service facilities to enhance the quality of services. It also recommended increasing investment in technology to improve the quality of tourism services and promote investment in the tourism sector, which will attract more large-scale tourism projects.
The association recommended promoting tourism in Jordan through Jordanian embassies, trade delegations, and exhibitions to attract tourists from around the world, as well as promoting Jordan's historical, tourist, and religious sites.
It also pointed out the need to develop plans and strategies to encourage medical tourism in Jordan, which has significantly declined in recent years due to bureaucratic policies imposed on the healthcare sector.
Jordan had once been the top destination for medical tourism in the Middle East.
Senator Michel Nazzal, the head of the Tourism and Heritage Committee, stated that the tourism sector is a key pillar of the national economy and reflects Jordan’s cultural image on the global map.
He confirmed that the committee believes in the importance of public-private partnerships to advance this vital sector.
He added that the committee agrees with the association’s proposals concerning the sector and emphasized the urgent need for concerted efforts on several fronts, especially strengthening tourism infrastructure, improving public facilities, and developing infrastructure in tourist areas.
These efforts will help attract tourism investments and offer an integrated experience for tourists.
During the meeting, which was held at the association's headquarters and attended by Senators Sharhabil Madi, Issa Murad, and Farouk Al-Hayyari, Nazzal stressed the importance of effective tourism promotion and increasing marketing efforts both domestically and internationally to highlight Jordan’s unique features—whether historical, natural, or therapeutic.
He also emphasized the need to restore Jordan’s position as the leading destination for medical tourism in the region by improving the quality of healthcare services and easing related procedures.
He called for developing religious tourism and adventure tourism, focusing on globally significant religious sites such as the Baptism Site and Mount Nebo.
Nazzal also pointed to the need to develop adventure tourism in areas like Wadi Rum and Petra, and enhance domestic tourism by launching programs to educate citizens and residents about the beauty of their country.
Schools and universities should be involved in awareness campaigns and the promotion of domestic tourism.
He also stressed creating job opportunities for young Jordanians, supporting small and medium-sized tourism projects, and offering specialized training programs to prepare young people for employment in the tourism sector.
For his part, the President of the Association, Hamdi Al-Tabbaa, said that the tourism sector is a cornerstone for national economic growth, contributing more than 15% of GDP, which is a key source of revenue and foreign currency for the treasury. He pointed out that the sector faced numerous challenges last year, leading to a 3.9% decline in tourist numbers and a 2.3% decrease in tourism income.
He emphasized that the improving situation in the region requires efforts to overcome the challenges affecting foreign tourism and to increase efforts aimed at promoting tourism across all regions of the kingdom, particularly in the northern and southern areas, which need infrastructure development to support tourism investments.
Al-Tabbaa called for encouraging domestic tourism and urged the Ministry of Education and other ministries to introduce students in schools and universities, as well as employees in large companies, to the tourist and archaeological sites in Jordan.
He also emphasized enhancing medical tourism and restoring Jordan's position as the top destination in the Middle East for medical tourism.
Al-Tabbaa stressed the need to enhance the healthcare services provided to tourists and create an advanced therapeutic tourism environment, as well as to promote religious tourism, conference tourism, and adventure tourism to revitalize the sector and restore its economic activity.
He pointed out that the tourism sector serves many other key economic sectors in the kingdom, directly contributing to economic growth.
The meeting participants called for a review of the mechanisms for promoting and marketing Jordan’s tourism with countries that do not have direct flights to Jordan.
They stressed the need to find effective solutions to attract tourists from these countries and to enhance air connectivity with new tourism markets.
They also highlighted the importance of promoting medical tourism and emphasized the need to address the challenges facing this vital sector.
They stressed the importance of adopting policies that support the growth of medical tourism in Jordan, which was once a leading destination in this field in the Middle East.
Regarding infrastructure, the attendees called for the development of facilities and services at tourist and religious sites that attract visitors, ensuring a comfortable and attractive tourism experience.
They stressed the need for high-quality services at these sites, which are among the main attractions of tourism in Jordan.
They also discussed the importance of enhancing national investment in the tourism sector and strengthening the partnership between the public and private sectors to develop tourism projects.
This collaboration, they believe, will create new investment opportunities and enhance the competitiveness of the Jordanian tourism sector.
They called for strengthening Jordan's position on the global tourism map, making it a primary destination in the Middle East, and increasing marketing and promotional efforts through targeted campaigns aimed at global tourism markets.
They emphasized the need to reduce taxes and fees imposed on tourists arriving through airports, border crossings, and ports.
They also underscored the importance of official support, in cooperation with the Central Bank, to establish and develop tourism projects at archaeological, religious, and therapeutic sites, and highlighted the need to establish a tourism fund to support the sector during times of crisis.
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