Travel agents hail King’s meeting with tourism representatives

AMMAN — The Jordan Society of Tourism and Travel Agents (JSTA) on Tuesday expressed its appreciation for His Majesty King Abdullah’s meeting with tourism sector representatives on Monday, which outlined a roadmap for joint public-private efforts to boost the sector.

JSTA President Muhammad Samih stated that during the meeting, the association stressed challenges facing the tourism sector due to the steadily increasing number of tourists, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Samih highlighted the need for developing infrastructure and providing better services to meet the rising number of tourists.

The JSTA also touched on the need for the Ministry of Tourism to be a reference for taking decisions regarding tourism, as it is an umbrella for all tourism institutions and regulates the performance of workers in the sector.

The JSTA called for fully unifying procedures at border crossings, expressing its appreciation for the Ministry of Interior’s decision to ease restrictions on restricted nationalities.

The association also addressed the lack of multilingual tourist guides, especially those proficient in languages other than English.

It also discussed the importance of supporting the national carrier, Royal Jordanian, and enhancing its competitiveness, given that low-cost aviation does not run throughout the year on lines flying to Jordan and could cease operations in the Kingdom at any time.