Jordan Times
Monday, February 19, 2007
Overall arrivals rise 13
% in 2006
By Dalya Dajani
AMMAN — The Kingdom’s tourism industry managed to sustain healthy growth last
year, with overall visitor arrivals rising 13 per cent from 2005, official
figures revealed Sunday.
A total of 6.57 million tourists visited the country in 2006 compared to 5.81
million visitors the previous year, according to preliminary results released by
the Ministry of Tourism and antiquities yesterday.
The figures showed a steady flow of tourist traffic from all regions. The most
notable increases, however, came from Europe, the United States and Arab
countries.
Gulf tourists, who have continued to form the majority of arrivals to the
Kingdom for the past four consecutive years, again topped the list at 1.91
million visitors — an increase of 8.4 per cent from 2005.
Jordan also witnessed large numbers of tourists from America last year, with
163,917 visiting the Kingdom compared to 111,976 in 2005 — an increase of 46.4
per cent.
Meanwhile, visitors from Europe rose by 8.4 per cent, from 391,847 visitors in
2005 to 424,584 visitors last year.
Visitors on package tours, however, dropped by 18 per cent to 277,913 tourists
in 2006, compared to 338,787 in 2005.
The number of nights they spent here also dropped by 24 per cent, as did their
average length of stay — from 4.5 nights to 4.2 nights.
Travel agents operating in the country agreed yesterday that demand for package
tours suffered a backlash due to Israel’s attacks on Lebanon in July.
There were mixed views, however, on the degree of its impact.
One travel agency, which organises package tours to the country from Latin
America, said strong business during the first half of last year plummeted
following the July conflict in Lebanon.
“All trips that had been scheduled between mid- July until the end of the year
were cancelled,” the source told The Jordan Times.
“Tour operators abroad said they had shifted their trips to other destinations
in East Europe and the Far East,” he added.
Although many travellers recognise Jordan as a safe destination, it is sold as
part of this region by tour operators, subsequently rendering it vulnerable to
instabilities or events in these countries, the travel agent explained.
He said he remained hopeful, however, adding that there were “promising signs”
of an improvement in the coming months as new inquiries were being made.
On the other hand, the events did not affect other agencies.
At Destinations of the World, which deals with incoming tourists from across all
continents, business was as usual.
“We weren’t affected by July’s events in Lebanon… Business went on as normal and
picked up between October and December,” the agency’s operations manager, Nancy
Al Asmar, said, adding that the package tours were modified to avoid trouble
spots.
Although 2006 figures for package tours were not strong, the Kingdom witnessed
an increase in the number of overnight tourists which rose by 8 per cent
compared to the previous year.
In addition, same-day tourists went up by 18.3 per cent, many of them en route
to neighbouring countries, tourists on packaged tours, or arriving in Aqaba on
cruise ships.
Most of the Kingdom’s leading tourist sites, however, registered a drop in
arrivals.
Visitors to Petra, which attracts the bulk of tourists arriving in the country,
dropped by 8.6 per cent, standing at 359,366 by the end of 2006 compared to
393,186 the previous year.
St. George’s Church in Madaba, which houses the mosaic map of the Holy Land, and
nearby Mount Nebo also witnessed fewer tourists.
Some 105,933 tourists visited the church in 2006 compared to 138,712 the
previous year, a 23.6 per cent drop, while visitors to Mount Nebo went down by
30.2 per cent to 126,130, compared to 180,825 in 2005.
Nevertheless, overall arrivals last year generated JD1.16 billion in tourism
revenues compared to JD1.02 billion in 2005 — an increase of almost 14 per cent.