Aqaba, Dead Sea favourite local destinations for Eid vacationers

AMMAN — Sharm El Sheikh and Turkey are expected to top the list of favourite destinations for Jordanian holidaymakers during the five-day Eid Al Adha holiday which will start Wednesday, according to a tourism industry leader. 

Shaher Hamdan, president of the Jordan Society of Tourism and Travel Agents, told The Jordan Times Sunday that over 18,000 Jordanians are expected to spend their holiday in the Egyptian Sharm El Sheikh Red Sea resort and around 12,000 are expected to head to Turkey. 

Hamdan said he expected tourist attractions in Jordan to draw large numbers of local visitors, with the Dead Sea and Aqaba, topping the list of local destinations.

Petra and Wadi Rum in the southern part of the Kingdom, he said, would also be among the preferred destinations for domestic tourists with many attracted by the night sky views of Wadi Rum desert, some 300 kilometres south of Amman. 

Hamdan stopped short of giving figures or estimates of visitors to local tourist sites, but said that the "golden tourist triangle" of Aqaba, Petra and Wadi Rum is set to be fully occupied during the five-day holiday.

Syria used to be a top tourist destination for Jordanians during holiday seasons, but the picture changed ever since the start of the civil war, prompting many to choose different destinations such as Turkey or Sharm.

Jordanians prefer Sharm El Sheikh over Aqaba because hotels in the Egyptian Red Sea resort are cheaper, he said, calling on tourism authorities and the private sector –– hotels, restaurants, airlines and transport companies –– to further cooperate to offer affordable packages to Jordanian vacationers.