Jordan Times
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Aqaba tourism
unaffected by rocket attacks
So far, only one travel agency has reported a cancellation this
week
By Dalya Dajani
AMMAN — The week has panned out favourably for local travel agencies with
Friday's missile attacks in the port city of Aqaba barely impacting tourist
travel plans to the country.
Travel agencies had kept their fingers crossed since the weekend attacks,
awaiting word from overseas tour operators when they began their working week.
So far, only one travel agency has reported a cancellation this week.
General Manager of Plaza Tours Nabih Riyal said a Swedish and a Canadian tour
group, who were scheduled to visit the Kingdom in November, had cancelled their
trips on Tuesday.
“We were expecting a group of 25 Canadians who were planning a joint visit to
Jordan and Israel, and 50 Swedish tourists whose trip was arranged by their
bank,” said Riyal.
Riyal had told The Jordan Times earlier this week that he believed changes in
reservations were imminent.
“This is expected as some people aren't prepared to take any risks, no matter
how we perceive the situation,” said Riyal.
He added, however, that the Swedish group might reschedule their visit for
later, perhaps in February or March next year.
Riyal said the cancellation from the Swedish group took him by surprise, as
visitors from there have not been deterred from visiting the region even during
the volatile period in 2001 and 2002.
While considered a minor incident, the missile attacks in the Red Sea port city
had initially prompted fears of a temporary backlash in the country's steadily
improving tourism industry.
Three Katyushas were fired from an Aqaba warehouse, one of them missing two US
warships anchored nearby but killing a Jordanian soldier and wounding another as
it smashed into a warehouse. Another Katyusha landed close to the airport in the
adjacent Israeli resort of Eilat, while the third struck a site near a military
hospital.
The tourism industry, however, has maintained its optimism despite the incident
and a series of potentially damaging inaccurate media reports on the incident.
A satellite station reported recently, for example, that a bus had been hijacked
in Aqaba just days after the attacks, whilst others earlier reported that the
resort city was closed.
Bluebird Tours Managing Director Ali Rawashdeh, whose reservations have not been
affected, said tourism is expected to maintain a normal healthy pace this year.
Rawashdeh said tour groups are continuing to pour in everyday from various
overseas destinations.
Earlier this month, the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) had reported on the
increasingly resilient nature of tourism industries in the face of terrorist
threats and attacks.
In comments made following July's attacks on the Egyptian tourist resort of
Sharm El Sheikh, WTO Secretary General Francesco Frangialli said that recent
acts of terrorism have been met more by a sentiment of repugnance rather than
fear.
“There has been a shift in the security paradigm with regard to everyday life
and travel, as people have come to accept higher levels of uncertainty than in
past years,” said Frangialli.
“When faced with terrorism, the members of the society being attacked are
determined not to allow violent acts to pressure them into changing their way of
life,” he added.
The Red Sea resort attack killed scores of tourists, and damaged two hotels and
various commercial establishments.
He noted that tourism in the Sinai Peninsula had experienced only a temporary
slowdown, and went on to recover within a relatively short period of time with
new arrivals and bookings.
“In the past few years, civil society has become aware of the global nature of
these threats and have resisted caving in to them; people are tending to keep
any changes to their habits and behaviour to a minimum,” said Frangialli.
According to the WTO, most experts consulted by the organisation believe the
short-term trend following terrorist attacks seems to point to a reduction in
cancellations and a resumption of new bookings within two to three months.
They added, however, that the pace of recovery would depend on how each
destination positions itself in the market, particularly in terms of its
perceived safety and security, prices, and accessibility.