Amman, February 25 - The Senate Tourism and Antiquities Committee, headed by Senator Michel Nazzal, discussed the reality of the tourism sector in the Kingdom during its meeting today, Tuesday, with Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Lina Annab.
Senator Nazzal spoke about the effects of political and geopolitical transformations on the sustainability of the tourism sector, which has been exposed to several crises, starting with the Arab Spring, through the Corona pandemic, and reaching the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.
He pointed out the need to work on transforming challenges into opportunities, in order to attract investors, especially since Jordan has unique components that qualify it to be a tourist destination at the regional and global levels.
He explained the importance of aligning the plans, results and targets of the ministry's plans with the vision of economic modernization, in addition to strengthening the partnership between the public and private sectors, calling for increasing the volume of effective marketing to place Jordanian tourism on the global tourism map, and activating the tourism risk fund.
In turn, Minister Annab spoke about the tourism sector indicators during 2024, as the number of visitors and tourism income decreased compared to 2023 due to the political circumstances surrounding the region.
She indicated that the performance of the tourism sector has witnessed an increase since the beginning of this year, as the number of visitors to the Kingdom reached 611 thousand visitors, which led to an increase in tourism revenues that reached 513 million dinars, which she considered an "unprecedented number".
Annab reviewed the ministry's marketing plan, which is concerned with improving digital marketing, enhancing air connectivity, in addition to strengthening partnerships at all levels, and intensifying communication with the media and influencers on various social media networks.
For his part, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Tourism, Dr. Fadi Balawi, presented the ministry's projects that are in line with the vision of economic modernization, most notably continuing to train and qualify job seekers and workers in the tourism sector, and reviewing the legislation regulating the tourism sector.
He pointed out the completion of the "Yarmouk Lodge" environmental project, the activation of the use of electronic tickets, in addition to developing adventure tourism paths, the investment opportunities inventory program, and the development of the "Our Jordan is Paradise" project.
For his part, the Director General of the Jordan Tourism Board, Dr. Abdul Razzaq Arabiyat, spoke about the Board's vision aimed at linking the Kingdom with important tourism export destinations and implementing various promotional and marketing campaigns, in addition to developing tourism experiences for various types of tourism to meet the needs of tourists.
For his part, the Acting Director General of the Department of Antiquities, Aktham Al-Awidi, spoke about the projects that the department is working on, which are: maintenance, restoration and rehabilitation of Shobak Castle in Ma'an, and excavation, restoration and rehabilitation of the Islamic site of "Ayla".
He pointed out the opening of the Byzantine Church rehabilitation project in Aqaba, and the Museum of Inscriptions in the Northern Badia, in addition to completing the training of 15 trainers at the Regional Center for Maintenance and Restoration in Jerash.
During the meeting, the senators raised a number of issues related to the tourism sector, most notably the mechanisms and means of stimulating investment in tourism, future plans to develop the infrastructure, and the role of the ministry in promoting domestic tourism and attracting foreign tourists.
They pointed out that the committee held a series of meetings with many representatives of the tourism sector, where they addressed the various challenges facing the sector and made recommendations that would contribute to addressing the challenges of the sector and stimulating it.