The Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority is planning to allocate a portion of the beach to the city's hotels that have no exit to the sea, a top official said on Saturday.
ASEZA Chief Commissioner Issa Ayoub said when the plan is implemented, "this area will be run and managed by the Aqaba Hotels Association".
If the plan is put into action, it is bound to increase hotel occupancy rates, said Salah Bitar, president of Aqaba Hotels Association.
"Occupancy rates in three- and four-star hotels will increase by 50 per cent, if ASEZA allocates them beach area," Bitar told The Jordan Times over the phone yesterday, adding that this was a main demand for the association.
"Vacationers come to Aqaba to enjoy the seaside, leading to increased demand on the five-star hotels," Bitar said, adding that there are 22 three- and four-star hotels in the port city, constituting 70 per cent of the city's hotels.
According to Bitar, hundreds of vacationers who came to Aqaba during Eid Al Fitr slept on the beach because of the unavailability of hotel rooms during the period.
"This led to chaos in the city," Ayoub said, adding that blame cannot be apportioned for this state of affairs because demand on Aqaba, one of the main destinations for Jordanian vacationers, increases tremendously during Eid and other holidays.
Both Ayoub and Bitar said there are no accurate figures on how many Jordanians visited Aqaba during the Eid.
According to a Jordan News Agency, Petra, report, some 50,000 people visited Aqaba during the holiday marking the end of Ramadan.
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