Over 3.6 million tourists visited Jordan until September — Fayez

AMMAN — Over 3.6 million tourists visited Jordan during the first nine months of 2022, said Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Nayef Al Fayez. 

Fayez told The Jordan Times on Monday that the number of tourists that visited the Kingdom in January-September of 2022 “exceeded the national tourism strategy’s expectations”. 

“The national tourism strategy set the goal of hosting 3.4 million tourists during the year 2022,” Fayez added. 

Hotel occupancy rate skyrocketed last weekend as well, according to the Jordan Hotel Association (JHA).

“Occupancy rate for the Dead Sea hotels stood at 82 per cent over the past weekend,” Abdel Hakkem Hindi, JHA president told The Jordan Times on Monday. 

Hindi added that the occupancy rate of five-star hotels in Aqaba stood at 96 per cent last weekend. 

Meanwhile, an official, who preferred anonymity, in the hospitality sector told The Jordan Times that “we have to encourage tourists to come back to Jordan. It should be a lifetime experience, not a one time experience”. 

“Tourists visit Jordan, but don’t always come back,” the source added. 

The source suggested that the ministry, along with its partners, could give small “gestures” to tourists to encourage their return. 

“Offering Petra tourists complementary water bottles, or an umbrella at the Petra gate, would mean the world to tourists and wouldn’t cost the Antiquities department over JD2,” said the official.

“Tourists should leave the country delighted and excited to come back,” the source added. 

The source also added that tourism is all about services, commending Jordan for the quantity of tourist products on offer, but adding that “we need to present them in a nice and affordable manner”.

The official also warned that European tourists to Jordan will be unlikely to spend the same quantity of money that they used to “now that the euro dropped to its lowest value in years”.

“Therefore, we need to make sure they will return to Jordan,” said the source. 

“We should look at Turkey as a role model. Tourists are willing to go to Turkey every year, and each trip, there is something new the country can offer,” the source noted.