The Chairman of the Board of Commissioners and Chairman of the Investment Exemptions and Incentives Committee in the Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority, Suleiman Al-Farajat, said that the authority has granted construction orders, the necessary investment permits, and distinctive tax numbers to five new hotel establishments to start construction work this year.

Al-Farajat added that the new hotels will provide no less than 500 new hotel rooms of various categories in the region in light of the increasing demand for hotel rooms as a result of the increase in the number of visitors in Petra.

Al-Farajat emphasized the harmonization of work procedures in the region by the authority in line with the investment environment law and its legislation governing work issued through the Ministry of Investment, as the law allowed the authority to implement the investment incentives and benefits granted in the development areas for projects within the Petra Development and Tourism Region.

Al-Farajat explained that there is a package of new investment projects that have started their work and are in the process of opening and operating this year, such as the fixed balloon project, and other projects that are in the final contracting stage to start their work during this year, such as the virtual reality project, the fields of adventure and challenge project, the air ferry and the tourist eco-village.

Al-Farajat pointed out that the authority is working to develop and stimulate business in partnership with the private sector in implementation of its strategic plan based on the most important main objectives of economic growth engines within the vision of Jordan’s economic modernization 2022-2033, which is stimulating local and international investments by preparing a framework for an attractive environment for investment.

For his part, Hasan Al-Lawama, Director of Investment in the Authority, said that the total investment volume of these projects is approximately 80 million dinars, and if incentives and investment benefits are applied for these projects, they will reach approximately 13 million dinars at a minimum, and over the entire project life stages of construction, equipment, and operation, and the authority grants exemptions and incentives Investment through working with partners represented by the Income and Sales Tax Department and the Jordanian Customs Department through the investment window that unifies the procedures in the authority.

The number of visitors to the ancient city of Petra during the first half of this year reached about 700,000 visitors of various nationalities, which is the highest number in the history of Petra tourism, according to official statistics issued by the Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority.

The percentage of visitors to Petra increased during the first half of this year, about 102% compared to the same period last year, when the total number of its visitors reached about 345,713 visitors, and about 29% from the same period in 2019, which amounted to about 539,363 visitors.

During the month of June, about 87,373 visitors of various nationalities visited Petra, an increase of about 39% over the same month of last year, and 28% over June of 2019.