Indians will find it easier to travel to Jordan as tourists once the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) launches a representation office in New Delhi on April 25, according to JTB officials.

JTB Director General Nayef Fayez said the economies of India and China are booming and they have not been greatly affected by the global financial crisis.

“This prompted us to attract tourists from these countries,” he said.

Earlier this year, the government unveiled several measures to mitigate the impact of the global downturn on the tourism sector.

Under the new measures, citizens of India and China, nations with a combined population of over two billion, no longer have to apply for a visa at Jordanian embassies in their countries.

“It used to take up to four months sometimes for Indians and Chinese to get a Jordanian visa after submitting applications," Tourism Minister Maha Khatib said at the time, noting that all they have to do now is go through a travel agent and submit a manifest detailing personal information and they will be issued a visa at the airport or any other entry point into the Kingdom.

Groups travelling to Jordan through tour operators can enter the Kingdom without a visa, while individuals still have to apply for a visa before coming to Jordan, but the procedure will be much simpler, JTB Deputy Director General Fayez Khouri told The Jordan Times.

The official launch of the New Delhi office will coincide with an international tourism exhibition to guarantee more exposure, according to Khouri, who noted that several tour operators and tourism offices will take part in the event.

The Indian embassy in Amman welcomed the “positive initiative”, noting that opening a JTB office in New Delhi and facilitating visa procedures would encourage Indians to visit Jordan.

“I expect a good response in India and many Indians to come to Jordan for tourism,” Mohammad Noor Rahman, second secretary at the embassy, told The Jordan Times yesterday.