AMMAN: The total number of visitors in 2014 dipped 1.2 per cent year-on-year, reaching 5.3 million, as the number of tourists arriving on daytrips slipped 7.4 per cent year-on-year to 1.3 million, according to data provided by the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB). The number of overnight visitors fared slightly better in the year, rising 1.1 per cent to reach nearly 4 million, but according to the latest data, the tally for January and February is down 8.3 per cent year-on-year.
Despite the drop in overall numbers, tourism receipts remained stable throughout 2014, totalling JD3.1 billion ($4.37 billion), according to Central Bank of Jordan data, up 6.3 per cent on the previous year, thanks in part to a rise in tourists from the Gulf region.
Jordanian expatriates accounted for the largest number of all visitors in 2014, making up just under a third of all overnight stays in 2014, marking an increase of 10.8 per cent year-on-year. Overnight arrivals from Gulf countries, which made up 17.3 per cent of the total number of visitors, rose 3.1 per cent. However, visitors from other Arab countries, which represented the largest group of visitors in 2013, slipped 7.6 per cent to make up 27.6 per cent of total overnight arrivals in 2014.
