Jordan to build $1bn hotel

A $1bn 475-room luxury hotel operated by Hilton Hotels, will be co-developed by Onix Investments and Koni Konsultants, both from Singapore and Koni Group of Orlando, in Jordan, the Jordan times reported.

The hotel will be located at the southeast corner of the airport highway in the capital Amman and the first phase of construction will cost around $350m, the newspaper reported.

Construction of the hotel will create about 5,600 jobs in the kingdom, according to the newspaper. No information on how the project will be financed was provided.

Jordan's tourism industry which accounts for about 7 percent of gross domestic product has suffered as a result of the protests that have swept the Arab world over the past two years and in particulr the violent conflict in neighbouring Syria.

Though the total number of visitors to the country fell by 7.3 percent in 2012 to 6.3m, total receipts increased 15.3 percent in the year from 2011, adding US$3.47bn to the economy, according to official government figures. The kingdom aims to increase tourism revenue to JD4.2bn annually by 2015.

Jordan's economy is projected to expand to about 3.5 percent this year from 3 percent last year, according to International Monetary Fund estimates.

Jordan’s new Queen Alia International Airport terminal, being built by a group of companies that include Airport International Group (AIG), will start operating on March 21, and increase capacity almost threefold, CEO Kjeld Binger told Arabian Business last month.

 The kingdom’s new terminal will increase capacity from an annual 3.5m passengers to 9m and with next phase of expansion climb to 12m, Binger said.