AMMAN — “Unfamiliar” tourist sites around the Kingdom can be promoted as providing visual experiences and opportunities for interaction with local residents through new marketing campaigns, representatives from the tourism sector said on Tuesday.
Jordan Tours and News
To say Little Petra is a long way off the tourist trail is an understatement. To get there we drive past the tourist police’s outpost, turn left and off-road alongside ancient, dried riverbeds and finally up a sand dune into the lee of a red sandstone cliff.
The only other people sleeping out under the stars are a few shepherds
AMMAN —Tourism Minister Lina Annab said that the number of tourists to the Kingdom in the first five months of the year increased by 10.5 per cent, compared with the same period of last year.
The Greater Amman Municipality’s (GAM) Al Hussein Parks has been receiving around 2,000 visitors every day since the fasting month of Ramadan started, while King Abdullah II Park in Muqabalein has been receiving around 1,000 visitors daily, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
Minister of State for Media Affairs Mohammad Momani on Tuesday said that the Tourism Ministry’s instructions allow tourist facilities to work during Ramadan and provide services without violating the “sanctity” of the fasting month.
Jordan’s tourism sector has witnessed a “considerable and promising” increase in the number of visitors since the beginning of the year, particularly from Asian countries, an official said in a recent interview.
The number of overall tourists reached 1.639 million visitors during the first four months of this year, compared to nearly 1.457 million over the same period last year, registering a 12.5 per cent growth, said Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) Managing Director Abed Al Razzaq Arabiyat.
Last year marked another successful year for Jordanian tourism, with UK visitor numbers rising by seven per cent, compared to 2015, with Britain remaining the largest European source market for the Hashemite Kingdom.
AMMAN — The pumping of water from three new wells in Petra District in Maan Governorate has begun at a capacity of 600 cubic metres per hour, in a bid to improve supply at the desert town, an official said on Monday.
AMMAN — A total of 2,609 people visited the tombs of Prophet Mohammad’s companions in the Southern Mazar in May, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Thursday.
AMMAN — Illuminated decorations, crescents and stars have lit up downtown Amman in celebration of the holy month of Ramadan.
AMMAN — The Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority (PDTRA) recently floated tenders for investment projects in Petra city worth JD100 million, PDTRA President Mohammad Nawafleh said on Wednesday.
AMMAN — The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) on Thursday released its eleventh edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI), ranking Jordan 95th out of 163 countries.
Royal Jordan Airlines on Wednesday announced plans to operate two weekly direct flights between Aqaba and Dubai as of June 8, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
AMMAN — The Madaba Regional Archaeological Museum Project (MRAMP) was officially launched on May 17 under an international consortium of experts from Jordan, the US and Italy, seeking to establish a new archaeological museum in Madaba in order to preserve and protect the rich heritage of Madaba and the surrounding region, while fostering a greater sense of ownership and engagement by the local community, a statement from the organisers said.
JERASH — Preparations for Jerash Festival for Culture and Arts 2017 have begun, triggering criticism from local tour guides over alleged disruption to tourist movements in some parts of the Greco-Roman city.
AMMAN — Ramadan evenings kicked off in downtown Amman on Monday with the participation of a number of Islamic troupes from all over the world.
Frescoes at Beit Ras in Jordan
The Jordan Tourism Board has announced 2016 Indian arrival figures for the destination, recording an unprecedented decline in the same day visitor arrivals.
The number of tourist arrivals in Jordan rose 3.7 percent year-on-year to 588.1 thousand in March of 2017, following a 6.7 percent increase in the previous month. The number of visitors increased the most from: Indonesia (117.8 percent); the United States (11.4 percent) and Saudi Arabia (0.3 percent).
AMMAN — The Aqaba Marine Park (AMP) is scheduled to join Jordan s network of nature reserves this year, becoming the country s first marine nature reserve, according to a consultant on coastal management and protection.
Prime Minister Hani al-Mulki on Sunday joined a session, held on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, that was dedicated to re-launch the southern port city of Aqaba as a major destination for investments and tourism in addition to announcing the Aqaba Special Economic Zone s strategic objectives for 2025.
This July, archaeologists in Jordan will begin an underwater search for remains of an early Islamic city.
AMMAN — The recent discovery of a hidden monument in Petra could help solve some of the mysteries of the Nabataean city, experts said on Monday.
AMMAN — Despite the harsh desert climate, the Nabataean inhabitants of ancient Petra were capable of growing different kinds of agricultural products, and even making wine, according to researcher and archaeologist Ulrich Bellwald.
AMMAN — The infrastructure of Petra, the capital of the ancient Nabateans, still remains a mystery to most people who visit this heritage site. The focus of tourists when they arrive to Petra is to find splendid monuments, temples, shrines, churches and market places, but the water infrastructure and the way Nabateans preserved water for irrigation and drinking is relatively unknown, noted Ulrich Bellwald, a Swiss archaeologist, conservator and architect.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) on the Middle East and North Africa is scheduled to kick off today at the Dead Sea, in Jordan and it will host more than 1000 business and political leaders and representatives from civil society, international organizations, youth and the media from over 50 countries, organizers said today.
AMMAN — Nature inspectors recorded 280 cases of illegal hunting, possession and trade of wild birds and animals last year, according to the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN).
Jordan ranked as the 38th safest destination for tourists globally in 2017, and the 5th among regional countries, a recent report by the World Economic Forum stated.
Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Lina Annab Tuesday said Jordan s largest tourism investments are located in Amman, the Dead Sea and Aqaba, pointing out that the value of current investments in Aqaba and the Dead Sea amount to about JOD16 billion.
Jubeiha Amusement Park, one of Amman’s oldest entertainment facilities, has closed down permanently due to the deteriorated state of its rides and structures, a municipal official said on Tuesday.
Deputising for His Majesty King Abdullah II, Prime Minister Hani Mulki Tuesday opened the adventure travel conference, which is organised by the Jordan Tourism Board and the Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA).
AMMAN — By developing joint tourism promotional offers, Jordan and Egypt can exploit untapped opportunities to boost bilateral and inbound tourism to both countries, officials from both sides agreed.
The tourism scene in Jordan has recently shown signs of recovery with growing numbers of tourists, Tourism Minister Lina Annab said on Wednesday, attributing the increase to several factors including the active role played by the private sector.
Jordan saw further growth in UK visitor numbers in the first quarter of 2017, January – March, increasing by 15.8 per cent, compared to the same period in 2016.
Then draw a route through more than 10,000 years of history, covering Neolithic ruins, Biblical sites, one of the New 7 Wonders of the World, and russet landscapes that wouldn t look out of place on Mars.
AMMAN — Amman on Wednesday was officially announced as the capital of Islamic culture for 2017.
A journey through the passageways and open spaces of Petra of Jordan, with a close look at the myth and history of the Nabataean civilization and the rise and fall of the ancient city: Petra
With the aim of preserving archaeological artifacts at the Jordan Archaeological Museum located at the Amman Citadel, the German Protestant Institute of Archaeology (GPIA), the Department of Antiquities (DoA) and the Gerda Henkel Foundation (GHF) joined forces in the project “Protection of Cultural Heritage in Jordan”, according to stakeholders.
Temperatures are expected to slightly drop on Monday, but they remain 4-6 degrees above their annual average.Therefore, it will continue to be relatively hot in the hilly areas and hot in other parts of the Kingdom.
AMMAN — Six women from Aqaba will undergo professional diving training this year to become the port city’s first batch of certified female divers, according to the Royal Marine Conservation Society of Jordan (JREDS).
DEAD SEA — “There are things you can do in Jordan that you cannot do anywhere else in the world,” Andrew Evans said to sum up his experience in Jordan after hiking across the country for over 40 days.
AMMAN — A “fascination” with the practice of archaeology was one of the driving motives for Marta D’Andrea, an Italian archaeologist from Sapienza University of Rome, to come to Jordan and take part in numerous archaeological projects.
Astrophotography is simply taking a photograph of an object in space, whether it s with a point-and-shoot camera, the Hubble Space Telescope or any other type of camera. And the subject matter can include anything from the moon to the Milky Way.
Aqaba Authority Special Economic Zone launched in collaboration with the Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi, in the protected area Of Wadi Rum. A hundred of mountain goats (Nubian Ibex - Capra ibex nubiana) donated by the agency earlier, to preserve this endangered animal due to poaching and hunting.
The Dana Reserve is possibly the best known of Jordan s nature reserves.
The Telegraph daily has ranked visiting Wadi Rum in fourth place on a list of "50 greatest adventures to try in your lifetime".
The valley, located 60km to the east of Aqaba, came after the first-placed Lost World and Angel Falls in Venezuela, the Classic Trail in New Zealand and the Red Centre in Australia.
AMMAN — Prompted by a lack of information on the Gulf of Aqaba’s harmful creatures, two local conservationists have released the first guide on poisonous marine species inhabiting Aqaba waters.
AMMAN — Marine conservationists are currently rallying support to list the coral reefs in the Gulf of Aqaba as a UNESCO world heritage site.
Jordan Tours: AMMAN — Jordan has topped a list of 35 of the “World’s Best Places to Travel in 2017” compiled by travel website Matador Network.
AMMAN — The Jordan Times’ reporter Rula Samain on Monday will launch a book that presents and evaluates Jordan’s interfaith initiatives and highlights the Muslim-Christian coexistence which “distinguishes Jordan from other countries in the Middle East”.