Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Hotels in Aqaba and at the Dead Sea are packed for the Eid Al Fitr vacation, with Jordanians and Arab Israelis topping the list of customers.

Hotels in both areas reported 100 per cent occupancy rate for the August 30-September 2 holiday marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.

“Although the accommodation prices are higher in some hotels because of the peak season, demand is very high during the Eid, especially for the second day,” Salah Bitar, president of Aqaba Hotels Association, told The Jordan Times.

He noted that some beach hotels have increased accommodation prices by 120 per cent, “but still the demand is high”.

The Dead Sea hotels will have their share of Jordanian vacationers this week, according to hoteliers contacted by The Jordan Times.

“Despite the hike in accommodation fees, we have no single empty room,” said a source from the Dead Sea Holiday Inn hotel.

He added that a night’s stay at the Dead Sea hotels costs from JD120 up to JD411.

“This is expensive, but all rooms are booked,” said the sources who also noted that the majority of vacationers during the Eid are Jordanians and Arab Israelis.

Nasser Tayeh from the Dead Sea Spa Hotel also said the hotel is fully occupied.

“Although the weather is hot these days, people still favour seaside areas,” Tayeh said.

For Omar Hassan, the short vacation encourages him to stay in town.

“Though prices at the Dead Sea are higher during the peak season, I had to stay here in order not to waste the short vacation in airports,” Hassan said yesterday.

However, demand on the seaside areas left Petra with no vacationers, according to Fawwaz Hasanat, president of Petra’s Hotels Association.

“There is one major reason that prevents Jordanians from coming to Petra during the Eid, which is the absence of facilities and activities,” Hasanat told The Jordan Times over the phone yesterday, adding: “We almost have no visitors in Petra, neither Jordanians, nor foreigners.”


* Jordan Times