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Rose-red city witnesses rise in tourist footfall — JTB

By JT - Jun 19,2019 - Last updated at Jun 19,2019

The number of tourists visiting the Kingdom increased during the first five months of 2019, Jordan Tourism Board Managing Director Abed Al Razzaq Arabiyat said on Tuesday (JT file photo)

AMMAN — Visitors to the rose-red city of Petra rose by 44 per cent, or some 128,000 people, when comparing the first five months of 2019 with 2018, Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) Managing Director Abed Al Razzaq Arabiyat said on Tuesday.

Last year, around 292,000 people came to Petra, some 220km south of Amman, by the end of May, Arabiyat said, adding that this year that number totalled 420,000. 

The number of foreign tourists to the Kingdom in general witnessed a remarkable increase, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported, citing a JTB statement. 

Jerash, located 48 kilometres north of Amman, saw a 73 per cent increase in foreign tourists, receiving 186,000 people by the end the May, compared with 97,000 people during the same period of 2018.

Madaba, some 30km southwest of Amman, also registered a 56 per cent hike in tourists during the first five months of the year; climbing from 131,000 people in 2018 to 204,000 this year, the statement said. 

Visitors to Wadi Rum, 300km south of Amman, rose from 80,000 during the first five months of 2018, to 129,000 by the end of May this year — a 61 per cent increase, the managing director noted.

The number of tourists to the Baptism Site, 40km west of Amman, by the end of May grew 38 per cent to 74,000 people, to Umm Qais, some 120 kilometres north of Amman, by 59 per cent to 21,000 people and to Mount Nebo, in Madaba, by 44 per cent to 265,000 people, Arabiyat added.

The managing director attributed the trend to unified ticket sales, stressing that the JTB and its partners are keen to maintain the rise in figures.

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