Turkey lures Jordanians during eid holidays

AMMAN — Outbound tourism from the Kingdom during Eid Al Adha season is gaining momentum to usual destinations such as Turkey, Georgia and Egypt, according to travel agents. 

Rashed Sandoqa, outbound sales executive at Refadah Travel and Tourism, told The Jordan Times that most booked flights are to Trabzon in Turkey.

“The numbers are really good, the holiday is long and there are many trips and packages that have been fully booked, so things are going well compared to previous years, there is no faltering,” he said, adding that most other trips are to Istanbul and Antalya in Turkey, Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt as well as to Georgia. 

A package of eight days and seven nights to Trabzon that includes everything from tickets to hotel bookings to several tours is JD500 per person, and there are other packages with less days and lesser prices, according to Sandoqa.

An operations manager at Rotana Travel and Tourism reiterated the same sentiment, noting that the sector is vibrant and many trips have been booked, especially to Trabzon, which he said has become the favoured destination in the past three months for its affordable prices.

In light of the difficult economic conditions, and the problems facing many sectors in the Kingdom, it was expected that trips would falter this season; however, to comment on the consistency and high booking rates, The Jordan Times contacted the Jordan Society of Tourism and Travel Agents (JSTA) President Mohammad Samih. He confirmed a high rate not only for outbound but also for inbound tourism. 

“The booking rates are high, many flights have been fully booked for this season. I myself had a trip to Germany and contacted Royal Jordanian, and they said that all flights during eid are fully booked,” he said.

“The economic conditions usually affect secondary needs, such as travel, but in this case, no, things are going really well,” he added.

The programme “Urdun Jannah” backed by the Ministry of Tourism also encouraged inbound tourism as there are 20,000 Jordanians who booked packages in the programme to visit Aqaba, Dead Sea, Wadi Rum and Petra, according to JSTA’s president.