Food & Drink Bring back smoking, say Jordan restaurateurs By Nadim Kawach February 21, 2025, 7:13 PM Pixabay/Anestiev The ban on shisha has caused a substantial fall in demand for restaurants, Jordan's restaurateurs say Weak demand prompts shisha call Tourism revenue down 4% Tourist numbers fall 7% Bring back smoking! That is how desperate restaurateurs and cafe owners feel in Jordan after a drop in tourism last year, linked primarily to the wars in the Middle East. Among other measures, restaurateurs want the return of the shisha, the waterpipe smoking device that is popular across the Arab world, and over which smokers can spend hours bubbling away in restaurants and cafes, ordering food and drinks at the same time. Shishas were banned in public spaces a decade ago, though the rule was only fully enforced with the outbreak of the Covid 19 pandemic in 2020. “Tourist restaurants across Jordan have witnessed weak demand. This has prompted restaurant owners to call for abolishing the ban on smoking shisha inside restaurants,” Jordan’s Arabic language daily Al-Ghad reported this week, quoting several restaurant owners and business group leaders. Gulf restaurants urged to keep it local Jordan’s economic growth to slow on lower tourist arrivals Lebanon’s diners defy both slowdown and spectre of war Tourism is a vital source of income for Jordan, home to the Nabatean site of Petra, among other attractions. Over the past five years, the sector’s share of gross domestic product has averaged 15 to 18 percent, central bank data shows. Figures released this month show Jordan’s tourism revenue dropped by approximately 4 percent in the first nine months of 2024 to about $5.5 billion, mainly because of a 7 percent fall in the number of tourists, from the Arab world and beyond. “Since the war in Gaza, Jordan’s tourism sector has suffered from downturn. The ban of shisha has aggravated the problem, as it has caused a substantial fall in demand for restaurants,” Ahmed Al-Khalid, a restaurant manager, was quoted as saying. According to Al-Ghad, Jordan has nearly 1,270 restaurants classified by the authorities as tourist restaurants, with more than 21,000 people on the combined payroll. Isam Al-Jamal, a restaurateur in the capital Amman, told the newspaper: “I also call on the authorities to abolish their decision to ban shisha, which is favoured by many restaurant and café customers.” The government should also lower power and water costs and cut fees, he said.
