By Suleiman Al-Khalidi, Joanna Plucinska and Jehad Shalbak
PETRA, Jordan/LONDON (Reuters) – Enas Al Hinti has cut staff pay in half and asked workers to take unpaid leave in an effort to keep her hotel in ancient Petra open as Western holidaymakers fearful of conflict shun destinations in the Middle East.
A crisis across the region’s tourism industry since the start of the Israel-Hamas war 13 months ago is being felt acutely in Jordan, whose border with Israel along the Red Sea and Dead Sea is studded with beach resorts.
Sites such as Petra, Wadi Rum and crusader castles have been drawing visitors for decades – more than one million a year before the war, mainly Americans and Europeans.
But Reuters reporters on a recent trip to the city…
