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'There are no revenues, it's all losses', says Petra

hotelier

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Flight bookings to Jordan have fallen sharply

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Tourism was 12.5% of Jordan's economy last year

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Hotel occupancy in Petra as low as 10%

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Jordan has survived previous crises -tourism minister

By Suleiman Al-Khalidi, Joanna Plucinska, Jehad Shalbak

PETRA, Jordan/LONDON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Enas Al Hinti

has cut staff pay in half and asked workers to take unpaid leave

in an effort to keep her hotel in ancient Petra open as Western

holidaymakers fearful of conflict shun destinations in the

Middle East.

A crisis across the region's tourism industry since the

start of the Israel-Hamas war 13 months ago is being felt

acutely in Jordan, whose border with Israel along the Red Sea

and Dead Sea is studded with beach resorts.

Sites such as Petra, Wadi Rum and crusader castles have been

drawing visitors for decades - more than one million a year

before the war, mainly Americans and Europeans.

But Reuters reporters on a recent trip to the city carved

from rose-coloured rock - Jordan's most-visited tourist

attraction - found businesses boarded up by their owners.

"There are no revenues, it's all losses," Al Hinti, who runs

the Nomads hotel, told Reuters.

Data and interviews with seven hotel and business owners and

tour operators underline the damage to the tourist industry,

which last year made up 12.5% of the economy.

Flight ticket bookings to Jordan, which is not involved in

the conflict, were down 35% year-on-year between Sept. 16 and

Oct. 4, data from travel intelligence firm ForwardKeys shows.

The situation has worsened since Iran's drone strike attack

on Israel in April and following tit-for-tat military strikes

between Israel and Iran, said Seif Saudi, the managing director

of Amman-based in Jordan Direct Tours.

"Things were starting to look up for October, but the second

attack erased all those gains."

LONG-TERM DAMAGE

The tourist industry across the Middle East is struggling.

Flight bookings to the region are down 6% year-on-year since the

war erupted after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7,

2023, ForwardKeys data shows.

Bookings to Israel and Lebanon fell even more sharply than

those to Jordan between Sept. 16 and Oct. 4, while Oman, Saudi

Arabia and Bahrain have seen smaller declines.

The recent regional escalation of the conflict, including

intensified Israeli attacks on Lebanon's Hezbollah armed group,

has dashed hopes for a recovery in the cooler autumn months, a

key season for Middle East tourism.

International tour groups like Intrepid and Riviera Travel

said they cancelled tours to Jordan and Egypt after Iran

showered Israel with ballistic missiles on Oct. 1.

Hotel occupancy rates in Petra have fallen on average to as

low as 10%, estimates Abdullah Hasanat, president of the Petra

Hotels Association.

"We are searching for a saviour. All the investments in

Petra are in intensive care. When tourism stopped, bookings

stopped," Hasanat, who owns a hotel himself, told Reuters.

Most international carriers have halted flights to Beirut and

Tel Aviv, but some, such as Ryanair, have also paused

flights to Jordan, in part due to its proximity to Israeli and

Lebanese airspace.

Hotel owners said Ryanair's decision in particular meant far

fewer Western tourists came to the country. Ryanair chief

executive Michael O'Leary told Reuters in October it was a

"sensible" move given the closure of airspace at the time.

Before the war, Christian tourists making pilgrimages to

Israel often also tagged on a trip to Jordan.

WHAT'S NEXT

Business owners say the damage will be long-term.

Future bookings have evaporated, forcing hotel managers like

Al Hinti to dip into their financial reserves to continue paying

salaries. She is keeping her hotel open, but with fewer floors

available.

"We are facing next year with a drop of not less than 90-95%

(in bookings)," said Nabih Riyal, CEO of Plaza Tours, which runs

holidays with European and American operators.

Jordan's tourism sector has survived previous crises related

to the prolonged conflict between Israelis and Palestinians,

Tourism Minister Lina Annab told Reuters.

"This calls for us to really focus on our most resilient

markets, which are not as affected by the situation," Annab

said, adding that visitors are still coming from neighbouring

countries.

Some Western tourists are undeterred too.

"We knew that the trip would be cancelled if it was really

risky," said Dorothy Lawson, a tourist from California, walking

around Petra in late October. "They said we could come. So we

came and we're really glad we did."

But businesses that rely on big crowds are struggling to

survive.

"We used to have 4,000 visitors every day," said Marcus

Massoud, a salesman in one of Petra's many souvenir shops.

"Now we have 300 to 400. It's not like before."