April saw JD385.1m in tourism revenue, CBJ data shows 

AMMAN — Tourism revenue grew by 73.5 per cent in April 2023 compared with the same month of 2022, reaching JD385.1 million ($543.2 million), according to data released by the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) on Wednesday. 

During the first third of 2023, tourism revenue witnessed an 84.5 per cent increase reaching JD1.569 billion ($2.214 billion). CBJ data attributed the increase to a surge in the number of tourists visiting Jordan, which reached 1.957 million in the first third of 2023, constituting a growth rate of 87.2 per cent.

Overnight tourism also increased, reaching 1.597 million tourists and a growth rate of 78.7 per cent. There were 360,300 day-trip tourists during the same time period, with a growth rate of 137.1 per cent.

The CBJ numbers indicated that Jordanians spent 49.6 per cent more on tourism abroad in April of 2023 than in the same month of 2022, reaching JD100.7 million ($142 million).

Commenting on the figures, economist Husam Ayesh told The Jordan Times that “with these positive results, the government must review its policies and reduce costs as much as it can” in order to propel the country to a stage of greater economic growth. 

The positive indicators should serve as a motive for other economic sectors to improve their performance, Ayesh noted.

As for the first third of 2023, Jordanians spent 63.2 per cent more on tourism abroad that during the same period of the previous year, recording a value of JD400.1 million ($564.3 million),  the spending of Jordanian residents accounted for 83.2 per cent of the total tourism spending abroad. 

A total 1,957,852 people visited Jordan in the first-third of 2023, in comparison with 1,046,078 visitors during the same period of 2022, according to the Tourism Ministry’s monthly bulletin. 

The first four months of this year also saw 1,597,539 overnight tourists marking a 78.7 per cent increase compared with 894,097 overnight visitors in the same period of 2022.