‘Kingdom is safe,’ tour operators tell potential visitors

By Khetam Malkawi

AMMAN – “Jordan is safe” and the protests witnessed in the country recently were all peaceful – a message that should be conveyed to tourists planning to visit the Kingdom, tour operators urged on Monday.

Inbound tour operators told The Jordan Times yesterday that a message explaining the situation in Jordan should be delivered to foreign non-Arab tourists through media outlets.

The call was prompted by cancellations over the past few days by tour groups that were planning to visit the Kingdom.

“The majority of cancellations involved joint package tours for Jordan and Egypt,” Nabih Riyal, the owner of Plaza Tours, said yesterday.

“We tried to convince those who cancelled their trips to come to Jordan alone, but they refused, and when we tried to transfer the packages to include Syria, we found out that hotels in Syria are fully booked,” he told The Jordan Times over the phone.

Noting that some 20 groups, each consisting of 20 to 30 tourists, cancelled their trips through his agency, Riyal expressed fears that the situation might even get worse.

The Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association (JITOA) also voiced concern and called on relevant authorities to issue a statement explaining the situation in the country.

“People are afraid to come to Jordan and there are many cancellations,” JITOA Secretary General and Spokesman Muhannad Malhas said, but could not provide exact figures.

“The sit-ins in Jordan are different from those in other Arab countries. We need a very strong statement about it. Tourism is very important to our economy and the government should take action,” he said.

Despite several attempts by The Jordan Times, tourism ministry officials could not be reached for comment.

“If this situation continues, the tourism sector will be at risk,” said Amjad Maslamani, director of the Jordan Society of Tourism and Travel Agents, noting that cancellations included trips in March and beyond.

As for Jordanians who had booked to travel to Cairo, Maslamani said they cancelled their trips and the majority decided to go to either Aqaba or Turkey.

jordantimes