Hospitality Law in Jordan

Hotels and tourism businesses in Jordan are licensed and classified by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities under the Tourism Law No. 20 of 1988, with Aqaba projects also under the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority. We advise on licensing, management and franchise agreements, food and beverage, and hospitality disputes.

Tourism and hospitality are among the most important sectors of the Jordanian economy, and they generate some of the most complex legal work in the country. From 5-star hotels on Amman’s western ridge, to resorts on the Dead Sea shore, to marine hotels and dive operators in Aqaba, Abdullah & Partners has advised owners, operators, managers and investors in the hospitality industry for more than two decades.

Hospitality in Jordan is tightly regulated. We guide clients through the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities licensing regime, Greater Amman Municipality and ASEZA approvals, alcohol licensing, food safety registration and inspection regimes, and the classification standards that determine a property’s star rating. We also handle tourism concession disputes involving sites of cultural and environmental sensitivity.

Hotels and restaurants run on their people. Our employment team advises on the particular labour issues that hospitality operators face, service-charge distribution, seasonal and expatriate staff, work permits for specialist chefs and entertainers, and disciplinary procedures for front-of-house incidents. When disputes escalate, we handle food-safety claims, consumer complaints, supplier disputes and management-agreement terminations before the Jordanian courts and in arbitration.

In hospitality, reputation is everything, and the most effective legal advice is the advice that keeps a problem out of the press and out of the courts entirely.

Hospitality in Jordan is licensed and classified under the Tourism Law No. 20 of 1988, administered by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, which sets the classification standards that determine a hotel’s star rating and licenses tourism establishments, with licences renewed annually. In Aqaba, tourism and waterfront projects also fall under the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority and the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Law No. 32 of 2000, which runs its own licensing and concession regime. Food and beverage operations add a layer of food-safety registration and inspection, and developments at sensitive sites bring in environmental and antiquities controls. On the people side, hotels and restaurants work within the Labour Law No. 8 of 1996, including the work-permit rules for specialist chefs and entertainers and the treatment of service-charge distribution. We line these approvals up so that an opening date holds rather than slips on a missing licence. Source: Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.