AMMAN - The Kingdom's tourism revenues dropped slightly in the first nine months of this year, as the overall number of visitors increased by nearly half a percentage point, official figures revealed on Monday.
According to statistics issued by the Central Bank of Jordan yesterday, revenues generated by the sector between January and September stood at JD1.559 billion compared to JD1.569 billion in the same period of 2008.
According to Tourism Ministry figures, 5,413,000 tourists visited the Kingdom during the first three quarters of the year, a 0.4 per cent rise compared to the same period in 2008, when 5,391,000 visitors were registered.
Between January and September, 2,885,000 million tourists spent one night or more in the country, compared to 2,842,000 in 2008.
The number of same-day tourists in the first three quarters, however, declined by 1 per cent to 2,528,000, down from 2,549,000 in the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the figures indicated that 327,026 overnight tourists were registered in September, a 6 per cent increase from the same month last year, which witnessed 284,860 visitors.
Around 294,494 same-day visitors were registered last month, compared to 303,933 visitors in September last year, a 3 per cent drop.
Tourists from neighbouring Arab countries topped the list of arrivals, accounting for 317,059 tourists, 110,697 of them from the Gulf states.
By Khetam Malkawi
© Jordan Times 2009
