Jordan to see 55-65% drop in Palestinian arrivals amid opening of Ramon airport — travel agents

AMMAN — Opening Eilat’s Ramon airport to Palestinians wishing to travel abroad will decrease the number of Palestinian travellers to Jordan by 55 to 65 per cent, according to the Jordan Society of Tourism and Travel Agents (JSTA).

The JSTA called on the Jordanian government to “move fast” to solve the problem, demanding the simplification of the procedures for Palestinians to enter the Kingdom through designated crossings, and the reduction of taxes and fees.

According to the JSTA board of directors member, Mahmoud Al Khasawneh, approximately 500,000 Palestinian travellers enter Jordan each year via the King Hussein Bridge, whether for tourism or transit tourism, or to visit relatives.

“Palestinian travel through Ramon instead of Jordan will affect Jordanian tourism directly and the economic sector in general. Opening Ramon airport for Palestinians will cause the loss of a high percentage of Palestinian travellers to Jordan,” Khasawneh told The Jordan Times.

Palestinian tourism in Jordan is divided into inbound and outbound tourism, Khasawneh said, noting that outbound tourism will be more significantly affected, by 80 per cent. Most Palestinians’ trips abroad required transit through Jordan, impacting the outbound sector and Jordanian airlines.

Khasawneh stressed the necessity of bolstering the role of the Jordan Tourism Board’s (JTB) office in Palestine, and demanded that the government facilitate the entry of Palestinians into Jordan by providing larger crossing locations to receive the greatest possible number of travellers, as well as increasing the number of buses operating between the two borders.

He also called on the government to develop the infrastructure at King Hussein Bridge, especially restrooms and restaurants, in addition to reducing cross-border fees and taxes, hoping to re-attract Palestinian travellers back to the Kingdom.

Basim Al Ghalayeeni, a travel agency owner in Amman and Secretary of the Jordanian Travel and Tourism Agents Association, described the opening of Ramon Airport to Palestinians as a “huge problem” for travel agencies in Jordan, and the national economy as a whole.

It is expected that the work volume of Jordanian travel agencies will be affected by at least 40 per cent after the opening of Ramon Airport, Ghalayeeni said.

“Most Jordanian travel agencies work with Palestinian travel agencies to reserve flights and hotels for Palestinians for tourism, as well as for Hajj and umrah, so the numbers will decrease immensely, along with the number of Arab Israelis who also travel through Jordan,” Ghalayeeni added.

According to him, the tourism sector will be negatively affected and suffer great losses if the government does not take action immediately. This should be done by facilitating the entry process for Palestinians and reducing the costs and taxes associated with the crossing, positively impacting cross-border movement, he added.

Salameh Khattar, a travel agency owner in Amman, told The Jordan Times that opening Ramon Airport will directly affect hotel reservations, as the most affected businesses will be hotels, extended-stay hotels and car rental offices.

“This will cause big damages to tourism and travel agencies, especially those working in outbound tourism and tickets. It will also affect the arrival of low-cost flights coming to Queen Alia International Airport,” Khattar explained.

He also noted that Israeli companies will start offering one-day trips to visit Petra, which will also highly affect tourism in Jordan by decreasing the number of overnight tourists.

“The Jordanian government and the Ministry of Tourism must act quickly in the interest of Jordan by taking action to reduce fees for one-day tourists as well as tourist groups that come to Petra,” Khattar added.