General Manager of Corp Amman Hotel Erik Huyer, has applauded the raft of measures announced by their majesties, King Abdullah and Queen Rania, aimed at boosting visitor numbers to Jordan.

Timed to coincide with the recent World Economic Forum held at the Dead Sea Convention Centre, the new regulations not only ease visa restrictions and fees to make entry to Jordan a simpler process – but also help hotels financially, said Erik.

“We see the reduction in electricity tariffs for the hotel sector as making an immediate beneficial impact on our operating costs, helping the hospitality sector to remain competitive with its neighbours,” he said.

“On a wider basis, the waiving of visa fees for both tourists booking through a Jordanian tour operator or travelling independently will encourage longer stays as visitors only qualify for the free visa if they stay a minimum of two nights.”

Other measures, which include reducing visa fees for tourists entering through Jordan land borders and waiving departure tax for travellers on both charter and scheduled airlines, also have a minimum stay qualification and this represents very good news for hotels in Jordan, added Erik.

“As a competitively priced hotel in Amman, the Corp Amman Hotel welcomes both tourists and business travellers, and any measure that cuts costs and encourages visitors to spend longer in the country will be a great boon to us,” he said.

An additional initiative announced by their majesties is the implementation of a ‘unified ticket’ enabling tourists to travel around Jordan and visit up to 35 different attractions for a single fee, starting in September.

“This one-stop ticket will be an incentive for visitors to both enjoy a few days in the gateway cities of Amman and Aqaba as well as travel to iconic sites in Jordan including Petra, Jerash and the Dead Sea which have unparalleled appeal,” said Erik.

“While Jordan attracted 5.326million visitors this year, this was 1.2 per cent down on the previous year and by incentivising travellers to explore more of the country, we are optimistic measures such as these will reverse the downward trend.”