Tourism revenues rose by 12.7 per cent during the first ten months of this year to around $3.9 billion, up from $2.4 billion generated during the same period in 2016, the Central Bank of Jordan said.
Record added successfully
Tourism revenues rose by 12.7 per cent during the first ten months of this year to around $3.9 billion, up from $2.4 billion generated during the same period in 2016, the Central Bank of Jordan said.
A “first-of-its-kind” Hellenistic temple in the Levant region has been discovered in Umm Qais, an archaeologist said on Monday.
An archaeological excavation team from Yarmouk University has recently discovered a Hellenistic temple and network of water tunnels, Atef Sheyyab, president of the archaeology department at the university told the Jordan Times.
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.
Jordan this year witnessed an increase in the number of overnight religious tourists from countries targeted by promotion efforts, an official said on Wednesday.
Jordanian archaeologists have discovered an ancient temple that was built in the Hellenistic era in the third century BC.
The archaeologists believe that the temple, located 120 kilometres north of the capital, Amman, was dedicated to Poseidon, the Ancient Greek god of seas.
AMMAN — The Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) on Monday launched a campaign to promote tourism in the city of Amman, under the title “#Amman24”, which has triggered tremendous enthusiasm among a diversified audience worldwide, thanks to effective interaction by social media influencers.
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.
The conference comes as part of the UN declaration naming 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, the statement added.
It aims at highlighting the role of sustainable tourism in enhancing holistic economic growth for cities, its contribution to protecting the environment and to preserving cultural heritage, the statement read.
Annab said that the conference will witness the participation of leaders, experts, researchers and businesspeople from the tourism, economic and service sectors.
Members of the World Tourism Organisation are also scheduled to attend the event, the minister noted.
During the conference, several investment projects in Jordan are expected to be announced, in addition to sharing success stories of joint projects.
For his part, President of the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) Committee Yousef Shawarbeh stressed the importance of the event in light of the growing tourism sector in the capital.
He outlined GAM’s role in promoting tourism in Amman through the provision of infrastructure, tourism-enhancing services and partnerships with relevant institutions.
Tourism Minister Lina Annab announced that the first regional conference on “Tourism in the Middle East and North Africa [MENA]: Competitiveness for Sustainable Growth”, will be held on November 13 and 14 at the Grand Hyatt Amman Hotel.
AMMAN — The Second Janet Abu Lughod seminar, organised by Studio-X Amman and Sijal Institute for Arabic Language and Culture was a “wonderful opportunity to engage deeply with a diverse and bright group of participants in Amman on the singular topic of Qusayr Amra”, said Khaled Malas, a PhD candidate at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University.
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.
Insulated in the desert wilderness of southern Jordan, bedouins of Wadi Rum, 330km south of Amman, still preserve customs and traditions that benefit their harsh habitat.
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 — “’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.
The drop in the level of the Dead Sea is causing grave concerns among environmentalists and planners in the region, with most of the drop caused by diversion in the headwaters feeding the sea, a geologist has said.
Residents of Wadi Rum have complained of Tourism Ministry’s ban on tourists’ trips to their area, insisting that the area is safe for guests and unaffected by tribal protests over the Jafer case.
The Ministry of Tourism on Saturday instructed tour operators not to take tourists to Wadi Rum, according to a ministry document obtained by The Jordan Times on Monday.
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.
Among Jordanians, the city of Jerash is famous for its high quality, fresh dairy products, which are still prepared using traditional methods.
Visitors to Jerash often purchase Labaneh Jarashiyeh, a kind of strained yoghurt, which is a signature product of the city, 48km north of Amman.
King Salman bin Abdulaziz has decreed the establishment of renovation commissions tasked with the development of two of the most important archaeological and historic sites in the Kingdom, Al-Ola and Diriyah Gate. These two areas’ historic, cultural and architectural significance are expected to make them major tourist attractions as Saudi Arabia’s hospitality and tourism industry matures to welcome both local and international travellers.
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.