Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Several measures have been adopted by the Jordanian government to boost tourism into the country.

These measures have been appreciated by the industry. General manager of Corp Amman Hotel, Erik Huyer was one who recently applauded the raft of measures.

These initiatives have been implemented and timely coincided with the recent World Economic Forum.

“The new regulations not only ease visa restrictions and fees to make entry to Jordan a simpler process – but also help hotels financially. We see reduction in electricity tariffs for hotels as making an immediate beneficial impact on our operating costs, helping hospitality sector to remain competitive,” said Erik.

The other initiatives include waiving of visa fees for both tourists booking through a Jordanian tour operator or travelling independently. This according to the industry will encourage longer stays as visitors only qualify for a free visa if they stay a minimum of two nights. Others measures also include reducing visa fees for tourists entering through Jordan land borders and waiving departure tax for travellers on both charter and scheduled airlines.

An additional initiative announced is 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.

While Jordan attracted 5.326 m visitors this year, this was 1.2% down on the previous year.