Amman, June 10 (Xinhua) -- Jordan on Thursday launched a program worth 9 million U.S. dollars to boost domestic tourism hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jordanian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Nayef Al-Fayez said the program, which seeks to encourage citizens to visit the tourist destinations across Jordan at low prices, will be implemented in cooperation with travel agencies.
Aiming to help the tourism sector rebound from the blow by the pandemic, the program involves tourism offices in the planning and implementation of trips, tourist transportation, tourist guides, domestic aviation, and a variety of tourist facilities, the minister noted.
He added that the launch of the program came after a rise in the number of Jordanians who received the COVID-19 vaccine and the improvement of the situation across the country.
The Jordanian tourism sector, accounting for approximately 13 percent of the kingdom's GDP, witnessed a sharp decline in income to only 1 billion Jordanian dinars (1.41 billion U.S. dollars) last year, from 4.1 billion dinars in 2019. Enditem
