Jordan Times
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Tourism receipts up 26 per cent through July
By Khetam Malkawi
AMMAN - Tourism revenues rose by over a quarter in the first seven months of the year, with over four million tourists visiting the Kingdom, official figures revealed on Saturday.
According to Ministry of Tourism statistics released yesterday, revenues generated by the tourism sector grew 26 per cent in the first seven months of the year, reaching JD1.414 billion, up from JD1.119 billion in the same period of 2009.
A vast majority of tourism revenues, some 80 per cent, was generated in Petra, according to a ministry statement received by The Jordan Times yesterday.
Petra Development Tourism Region Authority figures indicated that revenues generated in Petra through July rose by 45 per cent to reach JD9.9 million, up from JD6.8 million during the same period in 2009.
The ministry figures also revealed that over 4.8 million tourists visited the Kingdom during the January-July period, a 23 per cent increase from 2009, when some 3.9 million visitors toured the country.
Overnight visitors rose by 29 per cent in the period in question as some 2.67 million tourists visited the country, compared to 2.07 million visitors in the first seven months of 2009.
Some 2.132 million one-day tourists visited the country in the first seven months of the year, a 17 per cent rise from the same period in 2009.
Jordanian expatriates made up the largest segment of visitors, accounting for 740,375, followed by visitors from non-Gulf Arab countries (682,587), Arab Gulf countries (555,865), Europe (415,525) and Asia (151,122).
Wadi Rum witnessed the largest increase in tourists, the figures revealed, registering 160,407 visitors in the first seven months of the year, a 73.8 per cent jump from 2009, when 92,293 tourists visited the site.
According to the figures, Petra registered the highest amount of tourist traffic, with 549,734 tourists visiting the rose-red city in the first seven months of 2010. Mount Nebo was the second most visited site in the Kingdom, drawing 234,985 tourists during the period in question.