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Jordan Losing Over $250 Million Per Month Due to Israel-Hamas War
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by Algemeiner Staff
Jordan’s King Abdullah II addresses the assembly on the opening day of the Global Refugee Forum, in Geneva, Switzerland, Dec. 13, 2023. Photo: Jean-Guy Python/Pool via REUTERS
The Israel-Hamas war is having devastating effects on the Jordanian economy, according to the kingdom’s Minister of Tourism Makram Mustafa Queisi.
Queisi said on Tuesday that the rate of tourist cancellation since the beginning of the war in October is around 60 percent, which translates to over 200,000 visitors, according to Al-Arab, a pan-Arab newspaper published in London
“If we want to reflect this number on income, we are talking approximately 180 to 200 million dinars [$253 to $281 million] per month,” which represents “a loss to the overall economy,” Queisi said.
Jordan’s minister of tourism added that the situation was likely to get worse.
“There will be significant losses to the economy, which means that every month there will be cancellations in hotel reservations and a decrease in the number of visitors by up to 60 or 70 percent,” he said.
In recent years, Jordan and Israel have considered cooperating on multiple joint economic and tourism initiatives including the Jordan Gateway Industrial Park, the construction of solar-power and desalination facilities in Israel, and joint tourism in the Gulf of Eilat-Aqaba.
Tourism is a crucial sector for the Jordanian economy. In 2021, Jordan generated around $3.43 billion in the tourism sector alone, corresponding to 7.2 percent of its gross domestic product, according to WorldData.info.
The country has dozens of tourist sites that attract foreign tourists — most notably Petra, Wadi Rum, Jerash, and the Dead Sea.
Despite major economic headwinds, Jordan announced last month that it would refuse to sign a deal to provide energy to Israel in exchange for water that was planned to be ratified in October, according to Reuters.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi added that all of Jordan’s efforts were focused on ending what he described as the “retaliatory barbarism carried out by Israel” in the Hamas-run enclave of Gaza.
On Wednesday Jordan’s King Abdullah and Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al- Sisi said after a summit in Cairo on Wednesday that they rejected any Israeli move to expel Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank, state media reported.
Additional reporting from wire services.
