The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) said on Sunday that the kingdom saw a rise in tourism revenues by 14.5% during the first half of the year to a total of $2.1 billion.
In a press release, the CBJ attributed the rise in the sector’s income to the growth in the number of tourists by 9.9% year-on-year.
AMMAN —The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) on Tuesday announced that Al Hussein Park will close during the Amman Summer Festival from July 6 until July 15, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
The decision is intended to facilitate the movement of vehicles and pedestrians inside the park, except for visitors to the Royal Automobile Museum.
Amman, northern Jordan is home to other ancient cities of the Decapolis. These include Jarash (Gerasa), Umm Qays (Gadara), Tabaqat Fahl or Fihil (Pella), Bayt Ras (Capitolias), and Quwayliba (Abila). Jarash, straddling one of the ancient world's key trade routes, offers extensive and breathtaking ruins of colonnaded streets, arches, temples, and baths in a remarkable state of preservation and completeness.
AMMAN — The Amman Summer Festival is expected to start on Thursday night at the main stage of Al Hussein Park, The 10-day festival will be held for the 11th year, in four locations inside the park.
AMMAN —Tourism Minister Lina Annab said that the number of tourists to the Kingdom in the first five months of the year increased by 10.5 per cent, compared with the same period of last year.
A total of 2.6 million tourists visited Jordan until the end of this year’s May, compared with 1.864 million visitors to the country in the same period of 2016.
Tourism Minister Lina Annab announced that Amman will host the first regional conference on tourism in MENA cities, held under the title “Competitiveness for Sustainable Development”, a statement from Lawrence Conferences & Hussieni Consult said.
The event, scheduled between November 13 and 14, will be organised in cooperation with the Tourism Ministry, the Greater Amman Municipality, the Tourism Board, Lawrence Conferences & Hussieni Consult, with the support of the World Tourism Organisation, the statement said.
AMMAN — The Children Museum Jordan on Wednesday announced that it reached the final round of the 2017 Children Museums Award, for its project titled “Mobile Museum of Children”.
The announcement came after a jury meeting of the Children in Museums Award in Amsterdam in late June, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
The Greater Amman Municipality’s (GAM) Al Hussein Parks has been receiving around 2,000 visitors every day since the fasting month of Ramadan started, while King Abdullah II Park in Muqabalein has been receiving around 1,000 visitors daily, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
AMMAN — The Irbid Department of Antiquities has found 19 Roman ruins in Beit Al Ras town that narrate the stories of the former inhabitants of the area, department director, Musa Malkawi, said on Thursday.
The ruins are part of the Decapolis, Malkawi said, along with Jerash, Um Qais and other historical areas across the Kingdom.
AMMAN — HRH Princess Sanaa Asem on Wednesday attended the opening ceremony of the 23rd Shabib Festival at the Roman Theatre in Amman, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
The festival’s Higher Executive Committee President Sharifa Budur Bint Asem, said that the festival has succeeded in delivering its message of diversity in arts and culture.
Minister of State for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani on Tuesday said that the Tourism Ministry’s instructions allow tourist facilities to work during Ramadan and provide services without violating the “sanctity” of the fasting month.
Muslims abstain from food and drink during Ramadan from dawn until after sunset.
AMMAN — “’La Traviata’ is a work of heart that will touch everybody’s soul,” Jordanian soprano Zeina Barhoum said at a press conference on Thursday.
Held under the patronage of HRH Princess Muna, the performance will include over 150 musicians and dancers from over 10 countries.
Dating back to the second century, Roman Amphitheater speaks to the period of Roman rule over Amman, when the city was known as Philadelphia. The construction of the 6,000-seat amphitheater into the hillside at a steep angle kept the sun off spectators and created excellent acoustics, which enabled audience members even at the top seat to hear people in the arena.
Jordan’s tourism sector has witnessed a “considerable and promising” increase in the number of visitors since the beginning of the year, particularly from Asian countries, an official said in a recent interview.
The number of overall tourists reached 1.639 million visitors during the first four months of this year, compared to nearly 1.457 million over the same period last year, registering a 12.5 per cent growth, said Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) Managing Director Abed Al Razzaq Arabiyat.
AMMAN — The Cabinet on Wednesday decided to remove Kenyans from the restricted-nationality list, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
The decision came in line with government’s plans to increase investment and to open up to the African market.
Jordan's capital city, Amman spreads across 19 hills and includes many distinct districts, each with their own historical and cultural marvels. The topography of the city adds to the sense of eclecticism and discovery, with hidden areas and surprises lying out of sight and ready to be explored.
Last year marked another successful year for Jordanian tourism, with UK visitor numbers rising by seven per cent, compared to 2015, with Britain remaining the largest European source market for the Hashemite Kingdom.
The launch of the ExtraJORDANary campaign, in spring 2016, contributed to the positive arrival figures as travellers where able to book holidays through several new tour operators.
AMMAN — A total of 2,152 people visited the tombs of Prophet Mohammad’s companions in the Southern Mazar last June.
Mohammad Sarairah, the supervisor of the shrines, said that 1,285 of the visitors were Muslims from Turkey, the US, Pakistan, China, India, Malaysia and several African and European countries, while 485 visitors were Arabs and 362 were Jordanians. In May, some 2,609 people visited the Islamic shrines.
A close second to Petra on the list of favourite destinations in Jordan is the ancient city of Jerash, which boasts an unbroken chain of human occupation dating back more than 6,500 years.
Jerash lies on a plain surrounded by hilly wooded areas and fertile basins. Conquered by General Pompey in 63 BC, it came under Roman rule and was one of the ten great Roman cities of the Decapolis League.
AMMAN — The pumping of water from three new wells in Petra District in Maan Governorate has begun at a capacity of 600 cubic metres per hour, in a bid to improve supply at the desert town, an official said on Monday.
The three new wells are part of a project which seeks to provide additional water to the residents of Petra District, according to Omar Salameh, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Water and Irrigation.
The project also entailed the construction of water reservoirs, operation rooms and the installation of 12 kilometres of pipelines, according to Salameh.
The Tourism Ministry on Saturday allowed some 300 restaurants and cafés to serve hookah without issuing fines against them provided that they rectify their status by December 31.
In case of exceeding the given period, legal actions will be taken against the establishments in accordance with the law, the ministry noted.
AMMAN — A total of 2,609 people visited the tombs of Prophet Mohammad’s companions in the Southern Mazar in May, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Thursday.
Mohammad Sarairah, the supervisor of the shrines, said that 1,553 of the visitors came from Muslim countries, 373 visitors were Arabs and 683 were Jordanians. The shrines house the tombs of Jafar Bin Abi Taleb, Zaid Bin Haretha and Abdullah Bin Rawaha.
AMMAN — Tourism Minister Lina Annab is scheduled to head Jordan’s delegation to the 41st session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Monday.
Annab said that the session’s agenda includes nominating Salt’s historical town, 35km northwest of Amman, to be listed as a world heritage site.
AMMAN — “Unfamiliar” tourist sites around the Kingdom can be promoted as providing visual experiences and opportunities for interaction with local residents through new marketing campaigns, representatives from the tourism sector said on Tuesday.
In an article posted recently on Middle East social news website www.stepfeed.com, 14 tourist attractions around Jordan “that aren’t Petra, Amman, and the Dead Sea” were promoted.
AMMAN — Illuminated decorations, crescents and stars have lit up downtown Amman in celebration of the holy month of Ramadan.
The illuminated decorations have turned the city centre into the main hub for Jordanians, who flock to downtown Amman right after the end of the fast-breaking iftar meal, often staying until the start of suhoor before dawn.
Initiated by the Amman Chamber of Commerce (ACC), the illuminations are part of a campaign implemented in cooperation with the Greater Amman Municpality and the Arab Bank, according to an ACC statement.
AMMAN — Deputising for His Majesty King Abdullah, Water and Irrigation Minister Hazem Nasser on Wednesday opened the Jordan Food Exhibition 2017, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
The five-day fair, which is held at the Expo Land near airport, is organised by the International Promoters Company (IPCO), in cooperation with Amman Chamber of Industry, the Islamic International Arab Bank and Giant Industrial Group.
To say Little Petra is a long way off the tourist trail is an understatement. To get there we drive past the tourist police’s outpost, turn left and off-road alongside ancient, dried riverbeds and finally up a sand dune into the lee of a red sandstone cliff.
The only other people sleeping out under the stars are a few shepherds
AMMAN — The Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority (PDTRA) recently floated tenders for investment projects in Petra city worth JD100 million, PDTRA President Mohammad Nawafleh said on Wednesday.
