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What do Jordan, Titanic & Faulkner have in common? |
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September 10, 2000
AMMAN (AP) - Jordan has eased visa restrictions for visitors from 13 countries in a bid to attract more tourists, according to a Tourism Ministry spokesman. The new entry regulations, which went into effect Sept. 1, applies to visitors from Israel, Lebanon, Algeria, Morocco, Iran, North Korea, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, India, China, Uzbekistan, Macedonia and the former Yugoslav Republic. Visitors from those countries can obtain visas at Jordanian entry points provided they have return tickets and bank affidavits issued by certified tour operators in their home country, the spokesman said. Previously, visitors from the 13 countries had to obtain visas from Jordanian diplomatic missions prior to coming to Jordan. Visa issuance used to take up to four weeks. The spokesman said the fee for single entry and transit visas remained dlrs 15 and double the amount for multiple entry visas valid for six months. The new regulation also allows for visa exemption for tourist groups of at least five people over the age of 18 who plan to spend more than two nights in Jordan, he added. The government, saddled by dlrs 7 billion in foreign debt, is trying to attract more visitors to generate more revenue. Jordan boasts more than 50 biblical and historic sites. CHICAGO (AP) - The Museum of Science and Industry is extending its Titanic exhibit by more than a month to showcase about a dozen more artifacts recently recovered from the sunken ship. Deep-sea salvagers recently told the museum they had recovered the ship's main wheel and stand, the telegraph machine from the bridge and other personal items, said Elizabeth Keating, a museum spokeswoman. The exhibition, originally scheduled to close Sept. 4, will run through Oct. 9. More than 735,000 people have seen the exhibit since it opened in February, making it the most attended special exhibit in the museum's history. Attendance at the museum is up 38 percent compared with the same period last year. The Titanic sank in 1912 after it hit an iceberg. More than 1,500 people died. Ole Miss launches campaign to renovate William Faulkner's last home OXFORD, Mississippi (AP) - The University of Mississippi is launching an effort to raise dlrs 5 million to repair and renovate Rowan Oak, the last home of Nobel Prize-winning author William Faulkner. Built in the 1840s, Rowan Oak was purchased by Faulkner in 1930 and became his home until his death in 1962. Ole Miss bought the two-story house and 31-acre grounds in 1973 and operates Rowan Oak as a historic house museum to educate, display and interpret Faulkner's family life in Oxford. The house is open to the public at no charge and remains virtually unchanged from the day Faulkner died. Every year about 12,000 people visit the home. The home's aging wooden frame behind its white paint and green shutters, coupled with poor climate control inside, is taxing its future as a tourist attraction and repository for Faulkner' beloved books. The 1999 Legislature allotted dlrs 500,000 to fix the ventilation system. That work is expected to begin this year. It was at Rowan Oak where Faulkner penned such works as "Light in August" and "A Fable," which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1954. Another of his works, "The Reivers," won the Pulitzer Prize in 1962. Faulkner was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1950.
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