Abstract
The research dealt with the role of internal tourism in supporting the Jordanian economy, considering that Aqaba is a special case that represents an important part of the Jordanian domestic tourism. The problem of the research was to answer the following questions: Is Aqaba area characterized as an attractive tourist destination? Is Aqaba special economic zone authority (ASEZA) contributes to increase the Jordanian national income? Is the lack of infrastructure considers an obstacle to the development of domestic tourism in Aqaba? The data collected through the questionnaire were consisted of 30 paragraphs using the forth Likert scale.The importance of the research lies in its benefits to the decision makers of (ASEZA) in avoiding some of the obstacles and pitfalls that face employers and tourists. Data were collected from employers in Aqaba by using simple random sampling. Analytical descriptive methods, standard deviations, percentages, and T-tests were used. The results of the research showed that there are special characteristics that promote the internal tourism in Aqaba. It concluded that (ASEZA) plays a large role in promoting the internal tourism to Aqaba through tourism awareness and through providing the infrastructure and metadata. In contrast, the research found obstacles that hinder the internal tourism to Aqaba, and the high cost of tourism was one of them. The research recommended the need to intensify the planned advertisements and promotions according to the tourist seasons, establish extra parking spaces and hotel rooms, and conduct other researches that represent the tourist's opinion themselves.
Highlights
Jordan has a distinctive strategic location bestowed from Allah, as a gift giving it a competitive advantage in the several tourist areas from extreme north to extreme south, which may not be available in another country
In regard to the field research, the researcher depended on the questionnaire as a tool to identify the availability of natural potentials for the economic Aqaba area as a tourism attractions, as well as the role of (ASEZA) commissariat in the development of tourism at Aqaba economic city, and level of obstacles that faces internal to urism development in Aqaba economic City
The research arrived to several results, the most important are as follow: 1. Research results showed that Aqaba economic zone differentiate with many natural potentials related to the tourism attractions, which was approved by the results of the research concerning the motivation of business and commercial movement on weekends and tourism seasons, which would enrich the national economy and raise the level of Jordanian national income, and this calls for to proofing the research first hypothesis
Summary
Jordan has a distinctive strategic location bestowed from Allah, as a gift giving it a competitive advantage in the several tourist areas from extreme north to extreme south, which may not be available in another country. Aqaba takes up a distinctive position on the Jordan tourist map, as well as its economic importance for being the only marine port which connects Jordan to the world via the red sea. It considers as an important starting point for Jordan visitors coming to it across the sea to explore the historical and archaeological monuments in the south Jordan regions, such as Petra, Wadi Rum, Thana biosphere, and other locations, where areas closeness and distances shortness between Aqaba and those places allow visitors to spend more time visiting it.
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