The Jordanian government is gearing up to reopen the kingdom to foreign tourists, starting with the medical tourism sector, amid uncertainty over when the international airport will be open, health protocols regarding arriving tourists and countries whose citizens will be allowed to enter. Prime Minister Omar Razzaz announced July 5 that the kingdom’s airports will reopen by the end of the month for international flights but in a limited way for countries whose coronavirus situations are no more dangerous than that of Jordan.
On July 1, government Spokesperson and Minister of State for Media Affairs Amjad Adaileh told Arabic CNN the kingdom was in touch with the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) to declare Jordan a safe country for travel. The kingdom has seen a sharp decrease in local coronavirus infections in the first two weeks of July, with no more than 1,500 cases recorded since March and only 10 fatalities. On July 5, the government announced it had received the “Safe Travels” stamp from the WTTC in appreciation of the kingdom’s “successful” measures in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, Tourism Minister Majd Shweikeh was quoted as saying by The Jordan Times.
A day later, the government released a list of countries whose citizens can apply via an online platform to visit the kingdom to receive medical treatment, adding their applications will be processed within 24 hours. The initial list includes citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Palestine, Iraq, Libya, Algeria, Sudan, Yemen and Cyprus. But local tour operators were critical of the conditions set by the government for travelers to enter the kingdom. They include a coronavirus test certificate 72 hours prior to entering Jordan, to be repeated once the visitor arrives and again on the 7th and 14th days consecutively. In addition, visitors will agree to self-isolate for 14 days, which could be extended. Among other conditions, visitors may be required to wear electronic bracelets while they observe home or hotel quarantine.
These tough measures reflect the government’s weariness of reopening the country at a time when the World Health Organization is warning of a new spike or even a second wave of the pandemic. Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories have seen a new surge in daily infections, while the number of daily cases remains high for most GCC countries and Iraq.
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