The departure of organizational and embassy staff affected demand.
Regional situations cancel most Eid al-Fitr reservations.
Airport closures and a decline in tourism put pressure on the sector.
The absence of foreign tourism weakens trade activity.
Khaberni - Marwan Akoubeh, head of the Car Rental Offices Syndicate, revealed that occupancy rates in the sector during the month of Ramadan were extremely low, ranging from 3% to 5%, and in the best cases did not exceed 10%.
Akoubeh explained that the noticeable decrease in occupancy is mainly due to the decline in the number of foreign tourists coming to the kingdom, as a result of the geopolitical tensions in the region and the ongoing war between Iran, the United States, and Israel, in addition to the sector's significant reliance on tourism movement, which makes it quickly affected by any regional tensions, according to opinion.
He indicated that the closing of some airports and the departure of some staff of international organizations, embassies, and foreign companies directly reflected on the demand for tourist car rental services, which led to decreased occupancy rates.
Akoubeh mentioned that the syndicate proposed an initiative still under study to establish a risk fund aimed at supporting the sector in times of crisis, expressing hope that this initiative would receive government support, especially since the sector has been facing successive crises since the coronavirus pandemic, the repercussions of the Israeli war on Gaza, up to the current regional tensions.
He also pointed out that most of the Eid al-Fitr reservations expected in the upcoming period were canceled in recent days due to rapid developments and tense situations in the region, which negatively reflected on the demand movement in the car rental sector.
He added that these circumstances were also accompanied by a notable absence of Arab visitors to local tourism during the Eid period, amid cautiousness and a decline in travel movement between the countries of the region, depriving the sector of one of its main sources of demand that it usually relies on during seasons and holidays.
He confirmed that the tourism system in Jordan is interconnected and integrated, and that the tourist car rental sector is closely linked to the tourism movement, and therefore the absence of tourist groups or disruption of air traffic immediately reflects on occupancy rates.
The size of investments in the sector has declined from half a billion dinars to about 400 million dinars, although the sector's added value is still estimated at 90.5 million dinars, which constitutes 0.253% of the gross domestic product.
