Leisure & Hospitality Jordan tourism down 7% to 4.2m visitors By Pramod Kumar September 22, 2024, 6:07 AM Unsplash.com/Juli Kosolapova Tourism, which contributed 15 percent to Jordan's GDP in 2023, will face slow down amid regional instability, says S&P The number of visitors to Jordan fell 7 percent year on year to 4.2 million in the first eight months of 2024, official data reveals. However, Arab visiitors did increase, up 6 percent to 2.3 million tourists over the same period last year, Jordan Times reported, citing data from ministry of tourism and antiquities. Arab visitors accounted for 54 percent of the total arrivals. The number of European tourists declined by 27 percent year on year, while visitors from Americas dropped 50 percent annually, the report said. The tourism sector generated JD3.5 billion ($4.9 billion) in revenue during the first eight months, alhtough no comparative numbers were given. This month rating agency S&P said that Jordan’s economic growth is expected to moderate to 2.3 percent this year due to the indirect impacts of the increase in regional tensions, which have hit investment and tourism numbers. The growth is expected to rebound toward 3 percent by 2026-2027 as the economy adapts to the initial shock of regional instability. Tourism, which contributed 15 percent to GDP in 2023, will face slow down amid regional instability, S&P said.
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