Hotel bookings soar ahead of eid holiday — JHA

AMMAN — Hotel reservations in Jordan during the Eid Al Fitr holiday are booked at over 90 per cent capacity, according to the Jordan Hotels Association (JHA).

The JHA stated that the reservation and occupancy rates for hotels in Jordan, which include Amman, the Dead Sea, Petra and Aqaba, have witnessed a significant increase since March this year. 

This can be attributed to the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions as well as the recent warmer weather, according to the JHA. 

Mustafa Rahahleh, a sales manager in a five star-hotel in the Dead Sea area, told The Jordan Times in a recent interview that the hotel is already fully booked for the Eid Al Fitr holiday.

“The reservations are mostly Jordanians, but there is a good number of Arab and foreign tourists as well,” he said.

Rahahleh indicated that the hotel has witnessed an “unexpected turnout” during Ramadan, with occupancy rates of approximately 80 per cent since the beginning of the month until today.

“This is a good time to visit the Dead Sea as the weather is great here, so people are coming to enjoy their days even during Ramadan and especially during the weekends,” Rahahleh continued.

Lana Sartawi, a travel agent in Amman, noted that the demand for tourism and travel during eid is “higher than expected”.

“After two years of travel restrictions and limited destinations, people have the opportunity to travel normally again. Both domestic and foreign tourism have great demand, with people making reservations for Aqaba and Wadi Rum almost as much as they are reserving travel to other countries,” Sartawi told The Jordan Times in a recent interview.

 Sartawi said that most hotels in Aqaba are nearly full for the eid holiday as “Aqaba experiences great demand from Jordanians, especially groups of young people”.

According to Imad Akil, the general manager of a four-star hotel, the hotel’s occupancy during eid is forecast to be about 40 per cent, largely driven by travellers from the Gulf, with the majority from the UAE and Saudi Arabia. During Ramadan, the hotel’s occupancy rate has reached 18 per cent, Akil noted.

“We are optimistic about an increase in occupancy during the eid holiday and onwards, hopefully reaching a minimum of 40 per cent,” Akil told The Jordan Times.  

Malik Fayyad, a 26-year-old Jordanian, expressed his excitement for the eid holiday. “I am looking forward to some time off and to enjoy a trip to Wadi Rum and Aqaba which my friends and I planned,” he told The Jordan Times.

Fayyad said that his family will also be travelling during eid, noting that the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions and measures was a “great step” and encouraged people to travel.

“Almost everyone I know is going somewhere during eid,” he added.