Hoteliers and tour operators in the Red Sea resort said the attacks did not affect business and that the beaches and restaurants were packed with vacationers. Reservations manager at the Aqaba Movenpick Hotel, Husam Hijazi, said the five-star hotel maintained its 100 per cent occupancy over the weekend.

“There were no early checkouts or cancellations at the hotel,” Hijazi told The Jordan Times. “Life in and around the city was normal throughout the day and into the night,” he added.

Business at the four-star Golden Tulip Hotel, where a large group of Spanish tourists were staying, was also unaffected, according to the hotel's reservations officer.

The hotel was operating at 90 per cent occupancy over the weekend, he noted.

Three rockets fired from an industrial warehouse early Friday morning narrowly missed one of two US naval ships docked on the Red Sea port city and killed a Jordanian soldier on land. The rockets, launched some eight kilometres from the Port of Aqaba, hit the wall of a Jordanian military hospital, while another landed inside Israel close to Eilat Airport.

While the incident caused a stir in the initial hours of the attacks, tensions quickly subsided as more information was provided throughout the day.

Hoteliers in Aqaba were also quick to put out reports made by some Arab satellite stations on Friday that the area had been closed off for security reasons.

“Security in the area was heightened since the attacks took place, but Aqaba was never closed as some satellite stations reported,” said one hotel employee. “These reports are misguiding and could have easily damaged tourism by not portraying the situation accurately,” he added.

Over at the four-star Aqaba Gulf Hotel, a group of Spanish, German, Austrian, Slovenian and Hungarian tourists continued their holiday.

Sales manager at the hotel, Ekrema Hassan, said the hotel maintained 95 per cent occupancy over the weekend. Local tour operators and travel agents yesterday dismissed fears of the potential impact of the attacks on hotel reservations to the Kingdom.

General Manager of Plaza Tours Nabih Riyal told The Jordan Times that while it was too soon to determine any cancellations, he did not expect to see any changes over the coming few days.

“We'll have a clearer picture by Monday as it is still the weekend in Europe, but I don't believe there will be any changes as the attacks were not tourism-related,” said Riyal. Similarly, no cancellations were reported by several other travel agencies late Saturday including Atlas Tours and Travel One.

An employee at Amani Tours said he did not expect any tour group cancellations to the Kingdom, but as with other travel agencies, was waiting until mid-week for clearer indications.

On Friday evening, a few hours after the attacks, 400 more tourists arrived from Spain aboard two Jordan Aviation planes, according to the company's chief executive officer, Mohammad Khashman.

Khashman told the Jordan News Agency, Petra, that more groups will be arriving in the city aboard planes operated by the company, which is based in Aqaba.