The Cabinet decision to bear 2 per cent of the interest on loans given to tour guides by the Central Bank was welcomed by the sector, but stakeholders noted that they are still facing major challenges.

On Sunday, a Cabinet session chaired by Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Bisher Al Khasawneh concluded with the government approving a proposal to bear 2 per cent of the interest on loans already given out through the Central Bank’s programme to support small and medium tourist enterprises after they endured several losses due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Previously, in a decision issued on May 31, the Cabinet approved a proposal to cover 2 per cent of the interest on loans given to tourism establishments, but tour guides and their businesses were not included in that decision.

"Any help is welcome at this point, especially since most interest rates were not much higher than 2 per cent, so you could say that tourism establishments have taken loans without interest from the Central Bank,” said Mohammad Ajarmeh, a member of the Jordan Tourist Guides Association.

"It should be noted, however, that a loan is still a loan, and any business’s aim is to make profit, not accumulate debt,” he added.

The tourism sector was among the most affected by the coronavirus pandemic, as shown by the Ministry of Labour’s "most affected sectors” list. The closure of land, sea and air borders that took place in March and lasted for several months, as well as people’s fear of the virus, posed big challenges to the sector.

"I think that the almost non-existent foreign tourist numbers coming in the Kingdom is the major challenge faced by the sector. Although domestic tourism spiked this year and helped many local businesses, tourist guides have not benefited from this trend,” Moneer Haddad, a tourist guide, told The Jordan Times.

Haddad said that "local tourists know their way around and do not need a tourist guide. If they do, it is mostly for a short specialised tour, and not many are interested in the specific details of the tourist sites”.

As for the decision to bear 2 per cent of interest on loans, Ajarmeh said that "if the situation does not change in 2021, tour guides will not be able to go on and might not have the ability to pay back loan instalments, let alone loan interests”.

On a similar note, Haddad said that "many independent tour guides have either quit the profession or are planning on doing so if the vaccine does not encourage foreign tourists to come to Jordan”.