Jordan Times
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
2 million visit
Kingdom's main historical sites in 2005
By Dalya Dajani
AMMAN — Visitors at the Kingdom's main historical
sites grew by 28.8 per cent last year, totalling some 2 million compared to
1.613 million in 2004.
Figures released recently by the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) showed increased
tourist activity, mainly from foreign visitors, in sites such as Petra, Jerash,
Mount Nebo and the Baptism Site.
According to MoT data, foreign tourists visiting the Kingdom's historical sites
increased by 44.2 per cent in 2005, reaching 1.613 million visitors compared to
1.118 million the previous year.
The number of Jordanian visitors, however, fell by 8.8 per cent, from 484,058 in
2004 to 441,465 last year.
Petra, the Kingdom's main tourist attraction, saw a 26.7 per cent increase in
visitors last year — 393,186 compared to 310,271 in 2004.
In neighbouring Wadi Rum, renowned for its spectacular sand dunes and sunsets,
adventure and sports tourism was also at a high.
The number of visitors to Wadi Rum, whether sight-seeing camping or trekking,
rose by 94.4 per cent last year to 129,178, up from 66,438 in 2004.
Other tourist sites around the country, particularly those with religious
significance from the Biblical era, also witnessed a surge in visitors.
Mount Nebo, which houses the memorial sanctuary of the Prophet Moses, and the
Baptism Site, attracted thousands of the faithful as well as regular sightseers.
According to the figures, tourist arrivals at the two sites increased 51.9 per
cent and 42.4 per cent respectively last year.
A total of 180,825 tourists visited Mount Nebo last year, compared to 119,054
visitors in 2004.
Madaba, home to the famous mosaic map, also witnessed a surge in visitors,
according to the figures.
Some 138,712 tourists went to view the Byzantine map decorating the floor of St.
George's Church last year compared to 87,354 visitors in 2004.
In Jerash, located some 48 kilometres north of the capital, tourist activity
grew by 29.1 per cent last year, according to the MoT.
Some 214,550 tourists visited the city's Greco-Roman ruins in 2005 compared to
166,195 visitors the previous year.
The Kingdom's museums also saw an improvement in visitor numbers last year, with
the Folklore Museum and the Jordan Museum registering 40 per cent and 36.5 per
cent more visitors respectively last year.
Tourism, which generated a total of JD1.022 billion in revenues last year,
remains a key driver of the economy.
Official figures estimate there are about 108,000 indirect tourism-related job
opportunities available in the sector today. Some 29,384 people — 9 per cent of
them females — were directly employed by the tourism industry by the end of last
year, an 8.2 per cent increase from 2004.
Those working in hotels constitute the largest segment of workers in the tourism
sector (43.9 per cent) — a total of 12,884 employees.
According to MoT figures, the number of tourist guides went up 11.8 per cent
last year reaching a total of 672 guides in 2005.
Guides with horses also went up by 24.3 per cent (613) last year, compared to
493 in 2005.
Meanwhile, hotels and other resorts are also looking to expand leisure
activities. The number of diving centres in the country rose by 14.3 per cent
last year, with 32 such centres now open, compared to 28 last year.
In addition, water sport activities increased 9 per cent with 97 activities
currently available, compared to 89 in 2004.
The growth of tourism has also expanded the number of tourism restaurants, which
grew by 48.1 per cent to 9,950, from 6,710 in 2004.