Tour operators commend Tunisian move to exempt Jordanians from visas

AMMAN — The Tunisian embassy in Amman on Tuesday said it has not yet received an official decision related to exempting Jordanians from visa requirements to travel to the North African country.

Tunisian news websites on Sunday quoted Assistant Foreign Minister Al Tuhami Al Abdouli as saying that his country will officially remove visa requirements for citizens from several countries including Jordan.

The decision will reportedly be implemented in May this year and seeks to promote the country’s tourism sector.

“We have not received any notification so far,” an embassy official told The Jordan Times, without further elaboration.

The official, who did not give his name, declined to provide figures on the number of visas issued to Jordanians every year.

Tour operators in Amman said Tunisia is a popular destination for Jordanian travellers, but the visa requirement has been a restriction, even for tour operators to promote Tunisia as a tourism destination.

“We were not able to promote Tunisia here because of the two weeks or more needed to obtain a visa,” said Nael Real, who owns an outbound travel agency in Amman.

Yasser Abdo, another tour operator, agreed, adding that charter flights for tourism purposes used to be arranged from Jordan to Tunisia before 2011, when the revolution took place.

But the visas were sometimes issued on the same day of the trip, long after the application had been submitted. At other times, the visa would be ready after the date set for the trip, according to Abdo.

“This led to many cancellations back then,” he added.

According to Real, Jordanians usually prefer to travel to destinations that do not require visas regardless of the distance and time needed for the flight.

Thus, Turkey is the most popular destination for Jordanian travellers, followed by Sharm El Sheikh, he noted.

“Even Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia are becoming popular here because no visas are required to enter these countries,” Real said.

Both tour operators, however, agreed that removing the visa restriction will encourage more Jordanians to travel to Tunisia and tour operators to promote this destination.