Jordan, Turkey to develop joint tourism packages
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Jordan and Turkey have been discussing potential cooperation in the tourism sector and are expected to develop joint packages for long-haul tourists, said a sector official.
Jordan Tourism Board director general Abdul Razaq Arabiat said that although the Kingdom receives visitors from countries far away like Brazil, Australia, Korea and Japan, “Our main goal is still to increase the number of visitors coming from these countries.”
He explained that a lack of direct fligh
ts from these countries to Jordan makes it difficult for prospective tourists to visit the Kingdom as a standalone destination, as reported by Jordan Times.
In addition, Arabiat noted, visitors from these countries usually prefer to visit more than one destination at a time.
In meetings with Turkish tourism minister Ertugrul Günay, “We discussed possibility of developing joint packages for potential visitors from these countries to enable them visit both Turkey and Jordan,” Arabiat said, adding that Turkish carriers operate direct flights to these countries, which will help give tourists the option of visiting Jordan in the same trip.
Arabiat also announced that Günay is scheduled to visit Amman soon to meet with Minister of Tourism Nayef Al Fayez for further discussion on the issue.
Arabiat made his remarks on the sidelines of the first Turkish-Arab Tourism Forum, organised by the Arab Tourism Organisation (ATO), in the Turkish city of Bursa. Speaking at the opening of the forum, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: “Turkey had witnessed a significant growth in the number of Arab tourists in the past few years. We have succeeded in increasing tourism revenues from US$12 billion in 2002 to US$23 billion in 2011.”
Meanwhile, ATO president Sheikh Bandar Bin Fahed said the forum was meant to bolster cooperation between Arab countries and Turkey in tourism, in addition to encouraging more investment in the sector. Figures presented showed that about 31,000,000 tourists visit Turkey annually, compared to 35,000,000 tourists who visit all of the Arab countries together.
