Aqaba attracts tourists with JD10 roundtrip tickets in winter

AMMAN — The third Aqaba Carnival is scheduled to kick off on February 1, featuring several events and attractive discounts over one month, an official said.

The carnival, organised by the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA), is a winter promotional campaign that includes shows, activities and discounts at most of Aqaba's facilities, spokesperson of the state-run Aqaba Development Corporation Khalil Farrayeh told The Jordan Times on Wednesday.

The campaign, launched for the third year, seeks to increase the number of visitors by encouraging local tourists to make the southern city their getaway destination from the cold weather, he added. 

He noted that three-, four- and five-star hotels, souvenir and garment shops, and land and air transport companies are offering discount prices that have so far "tempted" hundreds of vacationers.

“Our transportation partners are recording increased reservations to the city in February,” Farrayeh said, adding that the campaign is also targeting Arab Israeli, Lebanese and Saudi tourists.

The discounts will range between 10-50 per cent at facilities that joined the campaign, Farrayeh said.

During the campaign, the two-way plane ticket from Amman to Aqaba will be JD10 on the Royal Jordanian Airlines, for those who provide a hotel booking confirmation, according to the spokesperson.    

The official said the winter campaign is expected to raise hotel occupancy rates in Aqaba, some 330km south of Amman, in the coming month, which he described as a "dead season" in terms of the number of tourists. 

ASEZA has launched a promotional campaign through newspaper advertisements and digital media, he added.

“This festival is part of crisis management efforts for the tourism sector, as the number of tourists usually drops sharply at this time of year,” the spokesperson said, noting that in spring, tourism typically flourishes due to demand from visitors from Scandinavian and European countries seeking warm weather. 

This year's carnival will be held under the motto “Every year is more beautiful than the one before.”