Aqaba, Jordan's only coastal city and its sole maritime gateway, has been experiencing successive waves of intense tourism and economic activity that have restored commercial momentum to the Red Sea port. The revival is no longer confined to the traditional tourist season: it now spans hospitality and hotels, the old city markets, shopping centres, and land, sea and air transport networks.
اضافة اعلان
Hotel occupancy in Aqaba reached an average of roughly 93 percent during the recent period of activity, with most individual hotels reporting 100 percent occupancy.
Tourism sector observers say concerts and musical events are the single most powerful and fastest-acting driver of economic activity across these sectors. A live event, they note, does not begin and end on the stage: it sets off a chain of economic interactions that ripple immediately through multiple industries. Cultural festivals and concerts in particular tend to produce sharp, qualitative jumps in economic movement because they are among the strongest draws for visitors.
Workers in the tourism sector say the surge in activity starts well before an event takes place, as visitors arrive in the city over several days. The economic effect also extends into the day after the event, as many visitors prefer to stay on to enjoy the beaches, water activities, markets and tourist facilities rather than attending the event and returning home immediately. The days leading up to any event typically see accelerating demand for hotel rooms, with bookings shifting progressively from classified hotels to serviced apartments and other tourist accommodation. Many properties reported fully booked status, and some hotels turned away prospective guests.
The 93 percent average occupancy rate reflects an exceptional level of tourism activity, workers said, noting that full occupancy was recorded at a large number of hotels across all classification categories and locations - whether in the city centre or at resorts along the southern shore. High demand for cultural and artistic events is consistently accompanied by sharp increases in demand for hotel rooms, transport services and restaurants, as well as greater footfall in markets, shopping centres, confectionery shops, gift shops and local-product outlets, driven by large visitor numbers arriving in private vehicles or tourist coaches.
Experts say the impact of events should not be measured by hotel occupancy alone. They say assessment should also cover direct and indirect tourism spending, average length of stay, and the temporary and seasonal jobs created for young people in areas including event organisation, security, logistics, audio-visual technology, photography and artistic production. Large events, they add, generate temporary and seasonal employment in reception, security, transport, marketing, photography, artistic production and hospitality services.
Economics professor Firas Al-Rawashdeh said it is essential to build on the momentum generated by events by announcing new concerts and activities well in advance, and by designing tourism packages that combine event tickets with accommodation, transport and marine excursions - making a visit to Aqaba a complete experience and encouraging visitors to stay for two nights or more. He said the high occupancy figures are a clear indicator of Aqaba's capacity to deliver strong results when an attractive event is matched with effective promotion, quality services and solid tourism infrastructure.
Tourism sector workers confirmed that hotel properties across all categories in Aqaba recorded exceptional activity, with average occupancy reaching roughly 93 percent and full capacity at most hotels, serviced apartments and other tourist accommodation during the events period. Restaurants and cafes - particularly those in central Aqaba and areas close to hotels and markets - saw heavy demand, with group and family bookings rising sharply during evening hours. Seafood restaurants, popular local eateries and fast-food outlets all reported increased activity, with some extending opening hours and taking on additional staff to meet demand.
Mohammed Abu Raja, who works in the restaurant sector, said: "Restaurants have seen movement over the past few days that exceeds the usual weekend rates." He added that large events benefit restaurant and cafe owners, taxi drivers, market workers and gift-shop traders alike, and that sustaining this kind of activity throughout the year is therefore essential, as it provides additional income and increases employment opportunities for young people.
Abu Raja said the recorded activity helped establishments raise their sales and offset slower periods, particularly against the backdrop of rising operating costs, raw material prices and energy costs. The surge in demand also prompted a number of restaurants to increase their food stocks, which in turn benefited suppliers, transport operators and distribution services.
Malek Haniyeh, an employee at a five-star hotel, confirmed that occupancy at the property reached 100 percent, and that strong demand had begun several days before the event. "We received many inquiries in the final hours, but all rooms were already booked - which confirms the capacity of major artistic events to directly drive the tourism market," he said. He added that the impact was not limited to the night of the concert: a number of guests chose to extend their stays and take advantage of tourism offers and water activities. He described this as important, because the goal is not simply to fill rooms but to lengthen visitors' stays and encourage spending within the city.
Haniyeh said the rise in occupancy affected all supporting services, from reception and housekeeping to in-house restaurants, room service and tourist transport. Hotels increased their staffing readiness in response to higher volumes of arrivals and departures and growing demand for leisure facilities, swimming pools and private beaches. He said the hotel sector looks positively on the establishment of a continuous calendar of concerts, festivals, sports tournaments, conferences and exhibitions.
Haniyeh said a regular events calendar helps hotels and other establishments to plan ahead, recruit staff and develop services, rather than depending primarily on seasonal peaks and official holidays. He noted that the activity extended to nearby destinations within what he called the "golden triangle": some visitors used their time in Aqaba to organise trips to Wadi Rum and Petra, or arrived in the city after visiting those two sites. This integration, he said, broadens the economic benefits of events and links beach tourism to the desert and archaeological tourism product.
The Commissioner for Tourism and Youth at the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority, Dr Thabet Al-Nabulsi, said the average hotel occupancy rate of 93 percent and full occupancy recorded at the majority of hotels reflect Aqaba's success in attracting visitors and its capacity to host large-scale public events. He said the concert and its accompanying activities contributed to movement across the hotel, restaurant, transport, trade and services sectors, in line with the Authority's direction to build a sustainable events calendar that stimulates tourism throughout the year rather than concentrating it in a single season.
Al-Nabulsi said Aqaba possesses diverse assets including beaches, a marine environment, favourable climate, markets, accommodation and entertainment facilities, as well as its proximity to Wadi Rum and Petra, making it well placed to serve as a fully integrated tourist destination capable of attracting visitors from local, regional and international markets. He said public-private partnership is essential to developing the tourism experience, through improving service quality, diversifying programmes, strengthening digital promotion, providing organised transport, raising the readiness of public facilities and supporting the small and medium-sized enterprises that form a core part of the local tourism economy.
This article was originally written in Arabic for Al Ghad.
