AMMAN -- Some 2,500 tourists visited the rose-red city of Petra over the Labour Day weekend, sustaining the healthy tourist traffic flow to the popular site in the south of the country.
"There was quite a large number of Jordanian families and students in Petra due to festivities held in the area for universities," said Malek Amarat, head of Petra's Tourist Department.
"They brought additional activity to the area over and above foreign tourists that continue to pour into the site every day," he added.
According to the tourism official, visitors to Petra have continued to rise since last year.
Official statistics showed that some 68,000 tourists visited Petra last month, 44,000 of them foreigners.
These visitors generated a total of JD948,000 in tourist fees.
A total of 140,000 tourists have visited Petra since the beginning of the year, generating around JD2 million in revenue.
Many tourists are from Europe arriving in Aqaba aboard cruise ships or through regular and chartered flights.
Amarat said cruise ship passengers take a three-stop tour including Wadi Rum and Petra, better known as the Golden Triangle.
They spend two nights in Aqaba before making a day-trip to Petra and Wadi Rum.
While these tourists do not benefit the hotels in the area, they generate significant business activity in the service sector, according to Amarat.
Petra attracted 2.054 million tourists last year, constituting a 26.7 per cent increase from 2004.
These included 311,318 foreigners and 81,868 Jordanians, Petra authorities said some 6,000 tourists -- 1,500 of them Jordanians -- visited Petra during the five-day Eid Al Adha holiday earlier this year.
By Dalya Dajani
© Jordan Times 2006
