I do not want in this article to address the harsh criticism that accompanies every activity the Ministry of Tourism undertakes in Petra to revitalize it. The truth is that this criticism originates first from within the city, as there are conflicting interests, and there are voices from outside the city that are never satisfied.
Frankly, if the government does not take the initiative to organize activities in the city, this should be a demand from the residents. Instead of pressuring to stop activities, the pressure should be focused on organizing them.
Tourism is the only income for the city and its people, so if it is not there, what would the people there do?
In the world, there are specializations for cities; one is a political capital, another is commercial, a third is industrial, a fourth specializes in technology, and there are purely tourist cities like Petra, whose people were raised on the craft of tourism and have continued with it.
A lot of water has flowed since its announcement by a global vote in 2007, when the city took off and reached a million visitors. However, in other periods, it went through difficult times that affected its achievements, before rising again, until regional circumstances struck its tourism.
Petra is suffering today, but it is resisting, and its tourist facilities are on the edge, as these harsh conditions have taken a toll on its harvest of impressive successes.
Not only that, but it faces many challenges and has greater ambitions waiting for a window to break through these circumstances to achieve them, in infrastructure, facilities, and new tourism projects, and most importantly, supporting existing ones so it can complete what it started on the path to globalization.
Petra is a unique tourist city, and it must be so economically; because the income provided by tourism rivals that provided by oil, so what are the obstacles? Perhaps we need a deep investigation.
