Eid, nice weather boost occupancy at resort hotels

By Khetam Malkawi

AMMAN - Hotels in Aqaba and at the Dead Sea are packed for the Eid vacation, with both Jordanians and Europeans taking advantage of the good weather to visit the Kingdom's resorts.

Hotels in both seaside areas reported 100 per cent occupancy rate for the coming holiday, with Jordanians making up 35 to 50 per cent of visitors in the November 16-19 period.

“The hotel is full during the four-day vacation, and we even have people on the waiting list,” an executive at the Dead Sea Holiday Inn reservations desk told The Jordan Times yesterday, adding that demand is high among both Europeans and Jordanians during the coming days.

“Although the accommodation prices are higher because of the peak season and the Eid, demand is higher than we expected,” said the employee, who asked to remain unnamed.

Nedal Qawasmeh from the Dead Sea Marriott also said the hotel is fully occupied.

“We have no vacant rooms from Tuesday until Friday,” Qawasmeh said, adding that the high tourism season started in October and is expected to continue until the end of this month.

“The majority of occupants are Europeans, but during the coming four days, Jordanians constitute around 50 per cent of them,” he explained.

Aqaba’s hotels will also have their share of Jordanian vacationers this week, according to President of Aqaba’s Hotels Association Salah Bitar.

“As the Eid coincides with the tourism peak season, hotels will be fully booked,” Bitar said, adding that people want to take advantage of the long vacation to relax, especially those who were involved in the November 9 elections.

He said approximately 60 per cent of guests in Aqaba’s hotels during the Eid are Jordanians.

However, few Jordanians plan to spend their holiday in Petra, according to Fawwaz Hasanat, president of Petra’s Hotels Association.

“A lack of activities targeting Jordanians contributes to low demand in the local market for trips to Petra,” Hasanat told The Jordan Times over the phone yesterday.

He added that while the five-star hotels in the rose-red city are almost fully booked with European tourists, other hotels with three-star ratings and below have much lower occupancy as they are not marketed by travel agents abroad.

15 November 2010

Source: The Jordan Times.
Link: http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=31857.