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The Kingdom’s tourism industry
managed to sustain healthy
growth last year, with overall
visitor arrivals rising 13 per
cent from 2005, official figures
revealed Sunday.
A total of 6.57 million tourists
visited the country in 2006
compared to 5.81 million
visitors the previous year,
according to preliminary results
released by the Ministry of
Tourism and antiquities
yesterday.
The figures showed a steady flow
of tourist traffic from all
regions. The most notable
increases, however, came from
Europe, the United States and
Arab countries.
Gulf tourists, who have
continued to form the majority
of arrivals to the Kingdom for
the past four consecutive years,
again topped the list at 1.91
million visitors — an increase
of 8.4 per cent from 2005.
Jordan also witnessed large
numbers of tourists from America
last year, with 163,917 visiting
the Kingdom compared to 111,976
in 2005 — an increase of 46.4
per cent.
Meanwhile, visitors from Europe
rose by 8.4 per cent, from
391,847 visitors in 2005 to
424,584 visitors last year.
Visitors on package tours,
however, dropped by 18 per cent
to 277,913 tourists in 2006,
compared to 338,787 in 2005.
The number of nights they spent
here also dropped by 24 per
cent, as did their average
length of stay — from 4.5 nights
to 4.2 nights.
Travel agents operating in the
country agreed yesterday that
demand for package tours
suffered a backlash due to
Israel’s attacks on Lebanon in
July.
There were mixed views, however,
on the degree of its impact.
One travel agency, which
organizes package tours to the
country from Latin America, said
strong business during the first
half of last year plummeted
following the July conflict in
Lebanon.
“All trips that had been
scheduled between mid- July
until the end of the year were
cancelled,” the source told The
Jordan Times.
“Tour operators abroad said they
had shifted their trips to other
destinations in East Europe and
the Far East,” he added.
Although many travelers
recognize Jordan as a safe
destination, it is sold as part
of this region by tour
operators, subsequently
rendering it vulnerable to
instabilities or events in these
countries, the travel agent
explained.
He said he remained hopeful,
however, adding that there were
“promising signs” of an
improvement in the coming months
as new inquiries were being
made.
On the other hand, the events
did not affect other agencies.
At Destinations of the World,
which deals with incoming
tourists from across all
continents, business was as
usual.
“We weren’t affected by July’s
events in Lebanon… Business went
on as normal and picked up
between October and December,”
the agency’s operations manager,
Nancy Al Asmar, said, adding
that the package tours were
modified to avoid trouble spots.
Although 2006 figures for
package tours were not strong,
the Kingdom witnessed an
increase in the number of
overnight tourists which rose by
8 per cent compared to the
previous year.
In addition, same-day tourists
went up by 18.3 per cent, many
of them en route to neighboring
countries, tourists on packaged
tours, or arriving in Aqaba on
cruise ships.
Most of the Kingdom’s leading
tourist sites, however,
registered a drop in arrivals.
Visitors to Petra, which
attracts the bulk of tourists
arriving in the country, dropped
by 8.6 per cent, standing at
359,366 by the end of 2006
compared to 393,186 the previous
year.
St. George’s Church in Madaba,
which houses the mosaic map of
the Holy Land, and nearby Mount
Nebo also witnessed fewer
tourists.
Some 105,933 tourists visited
the church in 2006 compared to
138,712 the previous year, a
23.6 per cent drop, while
visitors to Mount Nebo went down
by 30.2 per cent to 126,130,
compared to 180,825 in 2005.
Nevertheless, overall arrivals
last year generated JD1.16
billion in tourism revenues
compared to JD1.02 billion in
2005 — an increase of almost 14
per cent.
Jordan Information Center
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