Jordan tourism minister predicts 'milestone' year

The year 2012 will be a “milestone” year for Jordan’s tourism industry, according to His Excellency Nayef Hmeidi Al-Fayez, the country’s new Minister of Tourism & Antiquities.

Speaking to Hotelier Middle East at World Travel Market, Al Fayez revealed that the Kingdom will be celebrating the 200th anniversary of the rediscovery of the Lost City of Petra in 2012 — and that the Ministry plans to capitalise on this in a big way.

“We are reinforcing the issue of Petra on people with the 200th anniversary, and we’re using it as a gateway to the treasures of Jordan,” said Al-Fayez.

These “treasures” include the Dead Sea and Aqaba, both of which are underdeveloped in terms of tourism infrastructure said Al-Fayez.

“We recently launched our masterplan for the development of the Dead Sea. It involves more hotels, more facilities, more entertainment, more restaurants — all these supporting elements. The Dead Sea is becoming a tourist attraction and it’s becoming a destination,” he said.

“There is the same issue with Aqaba [as with the Dead Sea],” said Al-Fayez, “in terms of where it is today and where it should be or where it’s going.

“Aqaba is another area where we’re seeing a lot of infrastructure and facilities. We have multi-billion dollar infrastructure being put in place in Aqaba,” says Al-Fayez, referring to the US $1.5 billion Star-Trek themed Red Sea Astrarium Resort being developed by Rubicon Group Holding.

Construction on the resort is expected to begin in March 2012, with the opening scheduled for 2014.

For a full interview with His Excellency Nayef Hmeidi Al-Fayez, see the January issue of Hotelier Middle East.