appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Agence France-Presse

With its rock-hewn ancient city of Petra, lunar-like landscape of Wadi Rum and a medical tourism drive, Jordan is luring back foreign visitors scared off by regional upheaval and jihadist attacks.
Abundant natural wonders and ancient treasures have long attracted tourists to the kingdom, traditionally seen as a haven of peace in a war-ravaged region.
But after the Arab Spring uprisings convulsed the Middle East in 2011 and Islamic State (IS) later rampaged across neighbouring Syria and Iraq, visitor numbers slumped.
Jordan welcomed seven million tourists in 2010, but arrivals plunged to around three million in each of the following two years, according to tourism board head Abed Al Razzaq Arabiyat.
Efforts to reverse the slide suffered a major setback in 2016 with a string of attacks in the kingdom, a member of the US-led alliance against IS.
A Canadian tourist was among 10 people killed in a shooting rampage claimed by the jihadists in Karak, home to one of the region’s biggest Crusader castles.
But the spillover from the Syrian conflict has since abated and in 2017 tourist arrivals rebounded to more than four million, officials say.

“Jordan has proved to be a safe haven in a region which is witnessing turmoil,” Tourism Minister Lina Mazhar Annab said.
“Jordan is a very safe country. We are proving to be safer than a lot of European countries. It is a matter of perception.”
The country’s goal is to bring annual tourist arrivals back up to 7 million by 2020, she said, guiding a group of visitors through the steep paths of the ancient Nabataean city of Petra with its rose-pink cliffs.
The Unesco World Heritage Site, which featured in the Hollywood film Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, was once a major crossroads for caravans transporting Arabian incense, Indian spices and Chinese silks.
Today Jordan’s historical jewels are a major draw.

“I came here because it’s a country with huge cultural wealth,” said French tourist Emmanuel Reneaume, visiting the Amman Citadel perched at the top of a hill in the capital.
“Just behind us there are ruins, a Roman temple, a Byzantine church and an Umayyad mosque. It’s exciting,” he said.
Jordan boasts 21,000 archaeological and historical sites that span millennia, according to the tourism board.
The good, bad and ugly sides to visiting Petra – one of the wonders of the world
They include the Roman ruins of Jerash, the Dead Sea and Wadi al-Kharrar, or Bethany Beyond the Jordan, where some biblical historians believe Jesus was baptised.
Such sites are helping to attract a growing number of tourists from Asian countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, China and India, according to the authorities.
“People are coming back from all over the world,” said the tourism minister.

“This year, so far, it’s looking great. The first quarter has been amazing. We also have seen growth of 15 per cent in the number of visitors as well as tourism receipts.”
Lacking in natural resources, the country of nearly 10 million depends on tourism for around 12 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).
In an attempt to diversify, the kingdom has sought to become a regional hub of medical tourism.
“Between 250,000 and 300,000 foreign patients are admitted in Jordan each year, bringing in up to US$1.5 billion,” said the president of the country’s Private Hospitals Association, Fawzi al-Hammouri.
In March the government adopted a measure easing the entry of patients from Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Chad and Ethiopia, allowing them to obtain a visa within 48 hours.
Medical tourism now directly employs 35,000 people in Jordan, according to Hammouri.
Most patients come from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and the Palestinian territories.
Jordan is also a stop for Muslim pilgrims visiting holy sites in the region.
And now the kingdom hopes to woo more European visitors thanks to an agreement struck in February with low-cost airline Ryanair for 14 new routes between Europe and Jordan.
All of which gives tourism agency owner Salama Khatar reason for optimism.
“Business is good. Since August we are starting to return to the situation of 2010,” Khatar said.


France blames new cruise outbreak on stomach bug, lifts lockdown

Hong Kong Airport Authority takes over 11 Skies retail from New World: sources

Asia’s hottest new travel trend? The Hyrox ‘race-cation’

Headwinds ahead for India’s travel sector after Modi calls for foreign holiday restraint

Tourism

Jordan tries to woo back millions of nervous tourists after years of regional turmoil

Jordan welcomed seven million tourists in 2010, but arrivals plunged in years after

Tourists visit the Amman Citadel in the Jordanian capital on March 13, 2018. With its rock-hewn ancient city of Petra, lunar-like landscape of Wadi Rum and a medical tourism drive, Jordan is luring back foreign visitors scared off by regional upheaval and jihadist attacks. / AFP PHOTO / KHALIL MAZRAAWI

Tourists pose for a photo as they visit the Amman Citadel in the Jordanian capital. Photo: AFP

US Special Forces soldiers killed in Jordan were working for CIA

Members of the US Army carry a coffin holding the remains of one of the Special Forces team killed in Jordan. Photo: AFP

DOVER, DE - NOVEMBER 07: Members of a U.S. Army carry team move the flag-draped transfer case holding the remains of Army Sgt. 1st Class Matthew C. Lewellen of Lawrence, Kansas, into a transfer vehicle during a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base November 7, 2016 in Dover, Delaware. Lewellen, was assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, died November 4 at the age of 27 in Jafr, Jordan, of wounds sustained when his convoy came under fire entering a Jordanian military base. Alex Wong/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

Members of the special forces take part in the Eager Lion military exercise in the coastal city of Aqaba June 19, 2013. Eager Lion military exercise, set to take place in Jordan between June 9-20 is an annual multi-national exercise designed to focus on facing irregular warfare, as well as terrorism and national security threats. The exercise also aims to promote military relationships among the participants consisting of 8,000 participants from 19 countries. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed (JORDAN - Tags: MILITARY)

DOVER, DE - NOVEMBER 07: Members of a U.S. Army carry team move the flag-draped transfer case holding the remains of Army Staff Sgt. Kevin J. McEnroe, of Tucson, Arizona, from a C-17 aircraft during a dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base November 7, 2016 in Dover, Delaware. McEnroe, was assigned to the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, died November 4 at the age of 30 in Jafr, Jordan, of wounds sustained when his convoy came under fire entering a Jordanian military base. Alex Wong/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

Jordan writer facing charges over anti-Islam Facebook post, shot dead on steps of court

Jordanian police corner off the area where prominent Jordanian writer Nahed Hattar was shot dead outside a court in Amman. Photo: AFP

EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / Items belonging to prominent Jordanian writer Nahed Hattar are seen on the floor at the site where he was assassinated as Jordanian forensics inspect the scene outside a court in Amman where he was facing charges for sharing a cartoon deemed offensive to Islam, state news agency Petra reported on September 25, 2016. Hattar was struck by three bullets before the assailant was arrested, said Petra. Witnesses told AFP that a man had opened fire in front of the court in Amman's Abdali district. / AFP PHOTO / AHMAD ALAMEEN

A general view shows Jordanian police and civilans gathering at the scene where prominent Jordanian writer Nahed Hattar was shot dead outside a court in Amman where he was facing charges for sharing a cartoon deemed offensive to Islam, state news agency Petra reported on September 25, 2016. Hattar was struck by three bullets before the assailant was arrested, said Petra. Witnesses told AFP that a man had opened fire in front of the court in Amman's Abdali district. / AFP PHOTO / AHMAD ALAMEEN

An ambulance transports the body of Jordanian writer Nahed Hattar to a medical facility, after he was shot, in Amman, Jordan, Sunday, September 25, 2016. The prominent writer was shot dead in front of the courthouse where he was on trial for sharing a cartoon deemed as offensive to Islam. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh)

Car bomb kills Jordanian soldiers outside refugee camp near Syrian border

A Jordanian soldier helping Syrian refugees children upon their arrival at the Jordan-Syria border in 2015. Photo: EPA

epa05380729 (FILE) A file photograph dated 10 September 2015 showing Jordanian soldiers guarding the Jordan Syria border point of Al-Rugban area in the north east of Jordan. According to military sources a car bomb in the early morning of 21 June 2016, exploded at the border with Syria, killing and wounding several Jordanian troops. EPA/JAMAL NASRALLAH

World tourism map redrawn by terror attacks, epidemics, migrant crisis

A couple look at one of the Giza pyramids in the southern Cairo Giza district on January 20, 2016. Since Egypt's then army chief and now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted Islamist leader Mohamed Morsi in 2013, a deadly insurgency led by the Islamic State jihadist group has kept away millions of tourists. / AFP / MOHAMED EL-SHAHED / TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY JAY DESHMUKH

Unemployed Tunisians sit at el-Mourouj park after took part in a 400 kilometres march from the city of Gafsa to Tunis to demand work, on February 9, 2016, in the Tunisian capital. While Tunisia is hailed as a rare success story of the Arab Spring uprisings, authorities have failed to redress the economy or resolve the problems of social exclusion and regional inequalities. Apart from the political turmoil of the past five years which has handicapped the economy, the North African country also faces jihadist violence that has devastated its vital tourism industry. / AFP / FETHI BELAID

A couple look at one of the Giza pyramids outside Cairo. A deadly insurgency led by the Islamic State jihadist group has kept millions of tourists away from Egypt. Photo: AFP

News

World

Middle East

Jordan welcomed seven million tourists in 2010, but arrivals plunged in years after


Abundant natural wonders and ancient treasures have long attracted tourists to this kingdom, but regional turmoil scared them away.


Islamic State

Islamic militancy

Jordan tries to woo back millions of nervous tourists after years of regional turmoil

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Jordan welcomed seven million tourists in 2010, but arrivals plunged in years after

Jordan welcomed seven million tourists in 2010, but arrivals plunged in years after