jordan pulse -

Tourism sector continued its upward trajectory, with Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) figures showing a 21.5 percent surge in tourism income for September compared to the same month last year, totaling $794.3 million.

Cumulative tourism revenues for the first three quarters of the year reached $6.3 billion, representing a 4.9 percent increase year-on-year. Central Bank data further underscored broad-based growth, registering an 18.8 percent rise in revenue from Arab visitors and a 12.3 percent increase from Asian markets.

Speaking to the Jordan News Agency (Petra), industry specialists emphasized that the financial data provides a vital baseline for sustainable growth, noting that strategic market diversification and targeted promotional campaigns remain essential to insulate the sector from external shocks. Iconic Jordanian destinations–anchored by Petra, Jerash, and the Dead Sea–retain unmatched global appeal primed for a full rebound as international travel accelerates.

Tourism investor and expert Osama Abu Taleb noted that the recent revenue uptick underscores the sector's structural resilience. He stressed that maintaining this momentum requires a two-pronged strategy: reactivating traditional European and North American source markets while cementing gains across growing Arab and Asian visitor segments.

Abu Taleb called for shifting industry focus toward maximizing the economic value per visitor by extending average lengths of stay, increasing per-capita spending, and weaving integrated regional itineraries that channel economic benefits directly into local communities and small enterprises. He also advocated for upgrading sector metrics to measure length of stay, visitor spending, employment generation, and investment alongside raw arrival statistics.

Dr. Hakim Shatnawi, Professor of Tourism and Hospitality Management at Yarmouk University, pointed out that the 2026 performance data reflects a sequential rebound that successfully mitigated earlier regional headwinds. He noted that growth during the first nine months of the year was substantially driven by an influx of Arab and Asian visitors. A renewed wave of long-haul international tourists, he added, will directly reinvigorate hotels, restaurants, transport providers, and tour operators in heritage-dependent hubs like Petra and Wadi Rum.

Meanwhile, Bahjat Hamdan, a board member of the Jordanian Businessmen Association and a tourism sector investor, highlighted the necessity of expanding direct aviation links to Aqaba, incentivizing traffic to emerging destinations, and vigorously promoting specialized tourism segments, including medical, religious, ecological, adventure, and business travel. Hamdan emphasized that promotional outreach must go hand in hand with workforce upskilling, service quality enhancements, and streamlined financing to safeguard sector enterprises.

These figures follow a series of targeted government interventions enacted earlier this year to stabilize the tourism ecosystem. Measures included loan interest subsidies and financial facilities to help tourism establishments preserve jobs and maintain operations, followed by a specialized support package aimed at sustaining tourism professionals, businesses, and tour guides in the Petra region.

//Petra// AA