On Thursday, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Nayef Al-Fayez, at the Royal Jordanian National Defense College, gave a lecture entitled "The Nation

3/4/2021

 

Al-Fayez said: "The government measures to confront the impact of the Corona pandemic came by exempting the tourism sector from licensing fees for the years 2020-2021 and members of the General Authority for Tourism Activation from fees and contributions for the year 2020, and those dealing with the ministry from the administration, operation and rent allowance for sites and facilities for the year 2020 -2021, and returning the financial guarantees to the offices of  travel and tourism companies and exempting the owners and practitioners of the tourism professions / Aqaba from licensing fees, financial allowances, and the wages incurred by those establishments.

The Minister of Tourism indicated that loans were granted to the tourism sector and that the government bore 2% of the interest value on these loans, as well as reducing the sales tax on the tourist restaurants and hotels sectors, and reducing the service fee on the tourist restaurants and hotels sectors.

Al-Fayez pointed out that the most prominent challenges facing the tourism sector lie in the limited financial resources to develop and market the product, and tourism experiences despite the kingdom's richness in cultural, natural and tourist assets, seasonality of tourism, short stay duration, overlapping powers, shortage of qualified human cadres, number of hotel rooms, insufficient tourism transport system and restrictions on Entry visas for nationals of some countries. As for health tourism, there is a slowdown in the decision-making and implementation process.

At the end of the lecture, an extended discussion took place during which the minister answered the scholars ’questions and inquiries.