The Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Makram Al-Qaisi, confirmed that the tourism sector has begun to recover, grow at a high pace, and exceed the numbers it achieved during 2019, especially with regard to the number of visitors and tourism income.

Al-Qaisi said, during his participation in the “Prospects for Investment Opportunities in the Tourism Sector” session, that the tourism sector is considered one of the engines of economic growth in the Kingdom, and it constitutes approximately 13 percent of the gross domestic product.

The session was held on the sidelines of the fourth international conference for French-speaking business owners, which opened today, Monday, in the Dead Sea region, under the title “Jordan, the land of promising opportunities for international investors.”

The conference is organized by the Jordanian Businessmen Association in cooperation with a group of French-speaking businessmen, with the participation of 200 businessmen, investors and economic experts in various fields, in addition to the participation of a group of local, Arab and international companies and institutions.

During the first third of this year, the number of visitors to the Kingdom reached 1.957 million, an increase of 87.2 percent compared to the same period last year.

Al-Qaisi explained that the tourism sector has a direct link with various other sectors, whether large, small or medium projects, noting that it directly employs 55,000 male and female workers, of whom 85 percent are Jordanians, and there is also a large number of young people to work in the sector.

Al-Qaisi stressed that there are wide areas for investment in the tourism sector, in terms of increasing hotel rooms, pointing out that Petra needs 1,000 new hotel rooms.

He pointed out that there are investment opportunities in many tourist and archaeological sites, especially in Jerash, the Golden Triangle, and Ajloun, in addition to the areas surrounding the bath.

Al-Qaisi confirmed that the ministry welcomes business owners to take advantage of investment opportunities in the tourism sector in various regions of the Kingdom, pointing out that the new investment environment law gave tax incentives to investors in the tourism sector, especially in regions less fortunate in terms of investments.

He pointed out that the ministry is focusing today on training and promoting tourist sites by using artificial intelligence techniques and linking cultural and archaeological cities, and in the field of religious tourism.

Al-Qaisi indicated that the ministry has a plan to visit several African countries to promote Christian pilgrimage sites in Jordan.

He pointed out that the ministry, through its strategy, seeks to establish a fund and a business incubator for young entrepreneurs, at a value of 5 million dinars, to help enrich the visitor’s experience, develop service providers, in terms of qualification, as well as institutionalize services and develop products, and create a market for selling local products.

In turn, a member of the Board of Directors of the Jordanian Businessmen Association, Michel Nazzal, indicated that tourism investment in Jordan is promising, especially the hotel, because it is safe and long-term.

He explained that the new investment environment law gave many incentives to investors to ensure the survival of investment, indicating that the legislation is stable, which guarantees business continuity, in addition to the clarity of the advantages it guarantees.

Nazzal stressed the necessity of giving the northern tourist areas in the Kingdom more attention and directing investments towards them in various sectors, whether hotels, restaurants, rest houses, and entertainment areas, in addition to focusing on building new 3-star hotels in the Dead Sea region, and building healing and treatment resorts.

The head of Nama Strategic Consulting, Dr. Firas Brizat, referred to the vision of economic modernization, which focused on making Jordan a tourist destination, and finding new patterns of tourism, foremost of which are adventure, meditation, medical, hospitalization, and therapeutic tourism, in addition to Islamic and Christian religious sites.

He stressed the existence of great investment opportunities in the sites of Christian pilgrimage in Jordan, especially in the areas surrounding the baptism.

Brizat stressed the need to work to maintain the readiness of tourist sites in various regions of the Kingdom, noting that the vision of economic modernization seeks to achieve 99,000 job opportunities by 2033, which requires encouraging the private sector to increase its tourism investments.

The Vice Chairman and CEO of RJ, Eng. Samer Majali, presented the company’s plans to support the tourism sector, link the Kingdom with the world, facilitate the movement of passengers, and increase the number of departing, arriving and transiting passengers.

He stressed that the company has developed, in its strategy for the next few years, the expansion of its network of routes with many countries of the world, for the purposes of attracting tourists and serving travelers across the Kingdom.

He pointed out that the company will launch, during the current year, direct lines to Stockholm, Dusseldorf and Brussels, in addition to increasing the frequency of flights on the destinations of London, Paris, Frankfurt, Madrid and Rome, explaining that this will contribute to attracting more tourists to the Kingdom.

Majali indicated that the company transported 270,000 visitors to Jordan during the first quarter of this year, with a growth rate of 55 percent compared to the same period last year.