Jordan and China restore tourism as COVID-19 restrictions eased
Scenery in Jordan
Amid continuously loosened COVID-19 controls, overseas tourism bureaus are eying a warmup in China in the upcoming new year, with the domestic tourism market already showing signs of recovery.
The Jordan Tourism Board launched a warmup promotion campaign for the Chinese market in Shanghai on Tuesday, with travel industry partners, at the North Bund Art Museum in Hongkou District.
Themed "Celebrating the Kingdom of Time," it covers Jordan's culture and heritage from the ancient period through the Babylonian and Roman Empires to the present.
It came against the backdrop of the rapid recovery seen in Jordan's tourist economy after the pandemic.
The ancient city of Petra, Jordan
The number of international tourists to Jordan has grown notably over the past months, with arrivals exceeding 3.12 million between January and September this year, surging 142 percent from the same period last year, according to the tourism board.
These figures even exceed 2019's statistics, before the pandemic.
While Jordan is celebrating gains in the global travel market, destinations throughout the country are eagerly anticipating the return of Chinese visitors to the historic heart of the Middle East, the tourism board said.
Jordan has a deep bond with China since ancient times, from business and trade exchange on the Silk Road in the past to the forming of the sister relation between cultural heritage sites of the city of Petra and Jianyuguan Pass in Gansu Province.
This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. The event was also an exchange activity of Sino-Jordan relationships in tourism and cultural fields.
Jordan landscape
Jordan's culture is a rich tapestry of religious and ethnic diversity that is interwoven with its geographic diversity, from the pine forests and winter snow of northern Jordan through the age-old land of the Dead Sea to the majestic desert dunes and wadis of the country's south.
Meanwhile, China's domestic tourism market has shown a robust recovery following the release of a raft of new measures to further relax COVID-19 controls across China, online travel operators said on Wednesday.
Between December 7, when health code and PCR result for cross-region passengers are no longer required, and December 13, the bookings of hotels soared nearly 50 percent from the same period last month, according to the latest statistics of Tongcheng Travel.
Ski tour destinations in China's north and beach resorts in the country's south are the most popular, it said.
Orders for hotels in Harbin, a traditional ice and snow destination in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, doubled during the week from the same period last month, while orders for hotels in Sanya, a popular beach city, grew 10 percent during the week from the same period last year.
With the approach of the Spring Festival, the searches for train tickets during the week with departure dates during the holiday surged over 300 percent from normal, it said.
University students and migrant workers were the majority who make bookings, it said.
Online travel operator Trip.com said searches for tour products surged 12 times soon after the notice of the abolishing of China's itinerary card, used for tracing the travel history of people in the country in pandemic control.
Searches for air tickets have almost returned to normal, or pre-pandemic levels, with Shanghai, Beijing, Sanya, Shenzhen and Chengdu the top 5 places of departure for chunyun, the annual Spring Festival travel rush, it said.
