Crown Prince acquainted with plans to boost tourism

AMMAN — HRH Crown Prince Hussein on Wednesday urged better planning of efforts to promote tourism as vital sector and a main contributor to national revenues.

During a visit to the Tourism Ministry and meeting Minister Lina Annab, the Crown Prince said that the plans should be designed to generate more jobs, support small tourism enterprises, and present Jordan as a major destination for meetings and conferences, in addition to adventure and medical and religious tourism.

He underlined the role of digital platforms in promoting the Kingdom, given that most of the tourists use the web to explore tourist and archaeological sites, a Royal Court statement said.

The Crown Prince also highlighted the importance of incentives and support to tourism facilities, supporting small enterprises in the industry and activating low-cost flights to attract tourist groups.

For her part, Annab outlined the National Tourism Plan 2018-2022, which will be launched in partnership with the private sector and the local community to boost Jordan as a safe destination.

Annab said that the plan aims to increase revenues through stimulating the sector to grow by 5 per cent, noting that the sector's growth rate exceeds GDP growth.

As for the promotional policy, the minister said that the plan of the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) aims to attract high-spending tourists, in addition to supporting promising touristic industries.

She noted that the sector provides 50,000 direct jobs and encourages youth and women to engage in the sector.

Although the sector’s contribution to the GDP has dropped from 14 per cent in 2010 to 10 per cent in 2016, it is still among the highest contributing sectors, Annab said.

During the meeting, Director General of JTB Abdul Razzaq Arabiyat gave a presentation on the board’s plans to promote the Kingdom globally by targeting new markets and increasing the use of digital platforms.

He noted that the government’s measures and incentives at the border crossings and airports and promoting low-cost and charter flights have contributed to increasing the numbers of visitors.