Airline says there are many unknown sides to Jordan tourists will enjoy
IAN STALKER
Royal Jordanian is reaching out to both those relaxation-seeking sorts wanting to put their feet up on the sunny shores of Jordan’s Red Sea-fronting resort of Aqaba and those energetic types who are eager to explore the desert landscapes of interior Jordan’s Wadi Rum region.
Karime Makhlouf, the airline’s chief commercial officer, says his carrier traditionally didn’t see vacationers as its main customer base, something he says is no longer the case.
“Now, it’s tourism first,” he says about encouraging people to visit a country that has numerous UNESCO World Heritage Sites and seemingly countless Biblical and historical attractions, along with often dramatic landscapes found in a country where the dramatic Nabatean archeological site of Petra tends to overshadow other attractions.
“With all the beauty and all the sites, we are pushing for tourism. I think we need to focus more on the variety of Jordan. Focusing on tourism is new but I firmly believe in it,” he says.
Royal Jordanian is now working closely with Jordan’s tourism board, eager to attract visitors to the country it’s based in.
History and nature traditionally are the top draws for Jordan’s tourism trade but Makhlouf says there are many other sides to the country many outsiders are unaware of, suggesting culinary tourism can attract people, as can Jordanian’s wine industry, with Makhlouf praising the quality of the country’s wine.
Makhlouf says there are a host of other things that can bolster Jordanian tourism, among them the country’s fashion trade, yoga retreats and a movie industry in a land that has had landscapes appear in such movies as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Matt Damon’s The Martian, with the latter filmed in Jordan because movie producers were won over by the desert setting of Wadi Rum.
Royal Jordanian has also been supporting Jordanian artists.
“Jordan is not artificial,” Makhlouf says. “Here you have all these authentic things.”
Royal Jordanian now has been offering three weekly summer Toronto-Montreal-Amman flights, with the winter schedule calling for twice-weekly service. Business and economy service are available.
The oneworld carrier has an interline agreement with Air Canada.
Makhlouf says the airline has been enjoying strong occupancy and plans to broaden its international presence, now having some 34 destinations in its network, with that number expected to reach 67 in the coming years.
The carrier plans to begin adding more planes to its fleet next year as well and is working to reduce emissions by 34% by the end of the decade.
Royal Jordanian’s network extends as far as Asia and Makhlouf says Royal Jordanian’s home base of Amman should be seen as a major regional hub.
