14 Europe-Jordan flight routes to go operational today

AMMAN —Tourism Minister Lina Annab on Friday announced the start of 14 direct flight routes from Europe to Jordan as of Sunday.  

During a session at the Jordan 2018 Agenda conference, Annab said that these routes, to be operated for competitive prices, will be directed to Amman and Aqaba to further push growth rates at the tourism sector, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

In another session, titled “A plan to stimulate growth, and economic challenges”, the minister said that the number of tourists in 2017 increased by 10 per cent and tourism income by 13 per cent, adding that the ministry’s focus in 2018 will be on sustaining the growth rates achieved last year. 

The sector contributes to 10-14 per cent of the GDP, Annab said, citing statistics. 

She stressed that the sector recruits large numbers of local workers, which accounts for 90 per cent at hotels and 30 per cent at restaurants. 

According to the minister, Jordan has 100,000 archaeological “known” sites, of which 30,000 are registered, stressing that there is an opportunity to further encourage tourists to come and visit if more sites are developed as new destinations. 

Tourism revenues in 2017 increased by 12.5 per cent $4.6 billion compared with $4.1 billion in 2016, according to official figures. 

The increase was mainly due to the rise in the total number of tourists in 2017.