AMMAN — The ancient city of Petra welcomed 281,123 visitors between January and July this year, comprising 109,350 Jordanians and 171,773 foreign tourists, according to official data reviewed by Al Mamlaka.
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The data indicates a 3.7% decrease in visitor numbers compared to the same period last year, when total arrivals reached 291,912—including 79,632 Jordanians and 212,280 foreign visitors.
The Jordan Hotel Association (JHA) told Al Mamlaka earlier this August that Petra recorded its lowest occupancy rates, standing at approximately 13% for 5-star hotels, 5% for 4-star hotels, and around 2% for 3-star hotels. The association attributed the decline primarily to Petra's heavy reliance on European and foreign tourism.
The association added that Petra hosts approximately 3,400 hotel rooms distributed across 83 licensed hotels.
Meanwhile, preliminary data from the Central Bank of Jordan revealed that tourism revenues surged by 24.9% in July 2026, reaching $926.2 million. Consequently, the overall decline in tourism revenue for the first seven months of the year was limited to just 0.2%, with total earnings reaching $4.418 billion.
The Central Bank figures showed that during the first seven months of 2026, tourism revenues dropped from expatriate Jordanians by 8.9%, U.S. nationals by 20.6%, European nationalities by 24.7%, and other nationalities by 39.7%.
Conversely, tourism revenues grew from Arab visitors by 12.8% and Asian nationals by 3.9%.
Al Mamlaka TV
