Jordan Times
Sunday, March 27, 2005
JD612.5 million
generated in 2004
The number of tourists arriving on package tours goes up by 74%
By Dalya Dajani
AMMAN — Although last year's tourism arrival
figures in the Kingdom were lower than the previous year, the returns for the
industry were favourable thanks to longer visitor stays.
Based on the Ministry of Tourism's latest figures, tourist arrivals to the
Kingdom dropped by 9.9 per cent last year compared to 2003.
Statistics indicate that the number of visitors to the country fell to 3,695,544
in 2004, from 4,103,028 the previous year.
However, the number of tourists who stayed overnight increased by 7.1 per cent
for that comparative period, according to the official statistics.
The number of nights visitors spent in the Kingdom rose 40.1 per cent, with
3,980,339 visitors staying more than one night at hotels across the country in
2004, compared to 2,841,945 the previous year.
The percentage of tourists arriving on package tours went up a staggering 74 per
cent, with these visitors also increasing their length of stay from an average
of 4.45 nights in 2003 to 5.02 nights in 2004, according to the figures.
The extended stays and subsequent spending reflected positively on both
hospitality and tourism-based businesses.
Hotel occupancy rates witnessed a rise, with a 31.8 per cent increase in the
total number of nights spent by visitors in classified hotels and a 33.1 per
cent increase in those spending nights in nonclassified hotels.
Overall tourism spending generated a total of JD612.5 million in tourism
revenues for the Kingdom last year compared to JD586.3 million the previous
year.
A breakdown of arrivals from different regions showed a 53.4 per cent increase
in tourists from Asia and the Pacific in 2004 compared to the previous year,
while visitors from African countries rose by 34 per cent.
Visitors from Asia and the Pacific jumped from 73,688 in 2003 to 113,023 last
year, according to the figures, while those from Africa rose to 4,487 from 3,351
tourists the previous year.
Tourist arrivals from the United States and Europe went up 25.2 per cent and
13.5 per cent respectively, while those from the Gulf countries went up 32.7 per
cent, with 466,592 visitors in 2004 compared to 351,492 in 2003.
According to the ministry's figures, the number of same day visitors — usually
Gulf and Arab visitors using Jordan as a transit point for Syria or Lebanon —
also dropped.
Same day visitors fell by 22.2 per cent last year from 2,149,203 visitors in
2003 to 1,672,235 in 2004.