Tourism revenues, expatriates’ remittances increase

AMMAN – Tourism revenues went up by 11.1 per cent during the first quarter of this year to around $1.02 billion from $924 million generated during the same period of 2013. According to the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ), the rise is attributed to the increase in the number of tourists from the Gulf, US, Libya, Yemen and Jordanians residing abroad. Meanwhile, expatriates’ remittances went up by 3.1 per cent during the first quarter of 2014, to $861.5 million from $836 million in the same period of last year, the CBJ reported.