Tourism marketing of Aqaba to be intensified

Aqaba – Efforts to establish Aqaba’s position as a prime tourism destination forge ahead as the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA), Aqaba Development Corporation (ADC) and King Hussein International Airport (KHIA) share their destination marketing and development strategies with stakeholders and representatives from the tourism sector in Aqaba at a meeting held this morning. The strategies were developed by the USAID/Jordan Tourism Development Project II in coordination with ASEZA, ADC and KHIA, as part of efforts to support increased tourism and bring economic benefits to the local communities in the south of Jordan.

During today’s meeting, the five-year Tourism Marketing Strategy for Aqaba (2010-2015) and the KHIA Marketing Plan were presented to attendees to gain their feedback and support in implementing these strategies.

Dr. Bilal Al-Bashir, ASEZA Deputy Chief Commissioner & Commissioner for Investment, thanked the USAID/Jordan Tourism Development Project II for its efforts in developing the strategy and related work plans. He added, “There is a need to keep up with the continuous developments that Aqaba is seeing in tourism investments and the increase in hotel rooms and related tourism services. It is necessary to coordinate efforts and steer them in the right direction to tap into new tourism markets and improve penetration in existing markets, as well as increasing local tourism opportunities in line with the unique tourism product that both Aqaba and the ‘Golden tourism triangle’ offer. This must happen within the scope of the tourism marketing strategy, which must be developed with the participation of all related stakeholders.”

Eng. Imad Fakhoury, ADC’s Chief Executive Officer, said “We will continue with our efforts to develop Aqaba into a tourist and investment destination as well as a logistics hub for the region. We also work hard to implement all our plans to ensure Aqaba is transformed into a leading business and leisure hub on the Red Sea, and today is a result of ADC’s ongoing efforts to implement the Airport Master Plan in conjunction with the overall ASEZ master plan. We have prepared the KHIA Marketing Plan in cooperation with ASEZA and USAID, and it aims to develop the King Hussein International Airport and promote it as a major regional logistics, and multi-modal facility in addition to it being a vital tourism enabler for Aqaba and the Kingdom as a whole.”

“USAID has been a longstanding partner in Aqaba’s development and these initiatives will help the resort city to reach its potential in attracting more visitors and become a key destination and a gateway to Jordan,” said Mr. Jay Knott, USAID Jordan Mission Director.

While Aqaba has made huge progress in developing its tourism sector, multiple large-scale hotel development projects are underway that will bring the total number of rooms to around 8,000 in five years time. There are also plans for developing quality public beaches and additional three and four-star hotels over the next few years. The updated Aqaba Tourism Marketing Strategy was developed to strengthen marketing and increase visitor numbers to meet the increased supply in order to avoid low occupancy rates. Another key discussion focused on the role of the web in destination promotion with suggestions for digital promotion strategies for Aqaba.

The KHIA Marketing Plan seeks to encourage the growth of the airport’s air services network. It also identifies target markets and target scheduled and charter carriers. In addition, the plan will guide development to ensure technical and knowledge transfer to local counterparts and stakeholders.

The success of Aqaba as a destination is dependent on the cooperation of all stakeholders, including local hoteliers, restaurateurs, tour operators and ground handling agents, and operators of various touristic facilities. One proposal presented for consideration is to develop ways to engage the private sector in destination promotion as well as funding international campaigns. Implementation of the strategies presented today should ultimately result in increasing the number of flights to Aqaba, the length of stay of tourists and the city’s hotel occupancy rate.