Indonesian Embassy Promotes Palestine Tourism

JAKARTA, Mar 29 (Antara) - The Indonesian Embassy in Amman, Jordan, has helped promote tourism in Palestine and Jordan in Indonesia in an effort to improve the country's economy, according to the Charge d'Affaires ad Interim of the Embassy in Amman, Nico Adam, in a statement received by Antara here on Tuesday. "Indonesia continues to support the Palestinian people in all ways. It is not only through political support to help the Palestinians gain independence from Israeli occupation but also through economic support in the form of tourism promotion," he stated. According to him, Jordan enjoys political security despite being surrounded by neighboring countries involved in conflict, such as Syria, Iraq, and Palestine. "After the Arab Spring, the Jordanian government and parliament reformed and amended the law to improve the governance and security," Nico Adam explained to the visitors at the Astindo Travel Fair 2017 held in Jakarta from March 24 to 26. For Palestinians, tourism sector is one of the main income sources, besides olive tree cultivations, which have been known to produce high-quality olive oil, he added. "Palestine really needs tourist arrivals from Indonesia. The attractions in Palestine and Jordan are generally religious tourist sites. Based on records, the number of Indonesian tourists who visited Palestine and Jordan throughout 2016 was about 70 thousand people," Nico stated. Meanwhile, Raed Bader, a travel agent from Hebron Palestine noted that promoting Palestine's tourism cannot be separated from Jordan. "Jordanian and Palestinian people are friends and support each other, just like the right and left lung. Hence, promoting tourist sites in these two places should be a single package," Raed remarked. He added that tourist traffic to Palestine can boost its economy, create jobs for the people, as well as increase their crafts and culinary businesses. "Palestine is currently promoting its tourism to attract many tourists from all over the world to visit the country. We have many interesting religious tour packages, such as Jerusalem and Bethlehem, which can be visited by the Indonesians," Raed revealed. According to him, there are many interesting places to be visited by both Muslim and Christian tourists, namely the Ibrahim Mosque in Hebron, Moses Mosque in Jericho, and the tomb of Roman relics in Nablus. "Palestinians also hope that Indonesian tourists or those from other Muslim and friendly countries can use the accommodations owned by the citizens, as it will directly help in boosting their economies," Raed remarked.