Jordan Times
Monday, August 28, 2006
Conflict in neighboring
countries impacts local travel market
By Dalya Dajani
AMMAN — Several tour and travel firms have said it would take time to restore
healthy tourist traffic to the country following the recent crisis in Lebanon.
Agencies dealing with the European and American markets reported cancellations
with the start of violence in Lebanon mid-July, a downturn they predict will
last until the end of the year.
One travel agent told The Jordan Times recently that business was stagnant at
this stage.
“This is usually a busy time for us, but so far there have been no bookings for
either September and October, which is not entirely surprising under the current
circumstances,” she said.
With nearly 12 years of experience in the field, the travel agent said recurring
instabilities in the region have often prompted such cancellations.
This, she noted, was particularly true from foreigners affected by the media in
their respective countries.
She said chances for recovery will remain “dim” unless promotional efforts are
launched to re-instill traveler confidence to the region.
“It is too soon to tell whether we will see a turnaround at this point, but one
has to hope for the best,” she said.
Dakkak Tours, which also deals with foreign markets, also reported some
cancellations following the outbreak of the war in Lebanon in July.
The agency’s director of sales and marketing, Wael Dakkak, told The Jordan Times
they received cancellations for the second half of July and into August.
Cancellations for the coming three months, however, did not exceed 5 per cent,
he added.
Dakkak believes the current downturn for the upcoming tourism season would be
temporary.
“The months of July, August, September and October are considered to be high
demand season for target markets we deal with such as Italy, Spain and the Gulf.
“We believe there could be demand for travel in these upcoming months, but only
on a small scale,” he added.
Both travel agents agreed that the greatest impact of travel to the region was
prompted by cancellations on joint programmes that included Jordan-Syria and
Lebanon or Jordan-Syria and Israel following conflict in Lebanon.
The general manager of another travel agency, who did not wish to be named, also
expressed the same pessimism about the upcoming season.
She told The Jordan Times there were cancellations from Eastern Europe from now
until the end of the year.
“We usually get requests for bookings for the months of September, October and
November as early as July and August and so far all these have been cancelled,”
she said.
According to the general manager, that includes 240 Polish tourists who were
slated to visit the country as part of a weekly tour group between June and
December.
A tour group from India, also expected to visit the country as part of a tour
including Syria and the Holy Land, was also cancelled.
The general manager said it was crucial to rethink promotional strategies to
reverse the current downturn in travel.
“Few travel agencies are selling Jordan as a stand-alone destination, but it
would be wise to begin shifting promotional strategies immediately to improve
the travel potential here under current circumstances,” she said.
“One must keep in mind that when a tourism season gets hit at any time, its
impact can easily extend until the following year,” she added.