Shweikeh reviews measures to revive tourism sector at G20 virtual meeting

AMMAN — Participating in a virtual ministerial meeting of the Group of Twenty (G20), Tourism Minister in the caretaker government Majd Shweikeh on Wednesday reviewed main challenges facing Jordan and its tourism sector due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the meeting, organised by the World Tourism Organisation and hosted by Saudi Arabia, Shweikeh went over the procedures taken by the government to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on the sector and safeguard its institutions and workers, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported, citing a ministry statement issued on Thursday. 

The minister also said that the government's lockdown formed a “huge challenge” in preserving the workforce and economic activities in general, which required the government to make financial decisions to protect workers in the sector through soft loans with lower interest rates.

She added that the ministry then moved to the recovery stage to sustain the work of the sector through activating medical tourism and film tourism, noting that the ministry also launched the Urdun Jannah programme, which encourages domestic tourism, through pumping JD10 million to support local aviation and tourist transport companies, as well as restaurants, travel agents and tour guides.

Shweikeh noted that the Urdun Jannah programme offered free transport and a 40 per cent discount for all tourist attractions in the Kingdom, in addition to offering 25,000 free nights of accommodation in Petra and 15,000 free nights in Wadi Rum.