AMMAN: Jordan has seen a decrease in the number of tourists visiting its famed ancient city of Petra and other sites since the Gaza war began in October 2023, according to officials.
Although Jordan does not border the Gaza Strip, it has been among several countries across the region impacted by the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Figures released by the Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority and reported Monday by the official Al-Mamlaka TV showed the number of visitors slashed by 61 percent, from 1,174,137 in 2023 to 547,215 this year.
“We feel the repercussions of the aggression on Gaza every day, especially for providers of tourism services,” Abdul Razzaq Arabiyat, the director of the national tourism board, told Al-Mamlaka on Friday.
He said incoming tourism from Europe and North America has hit a record low, dealing a devastating blow to the hotel industry and tour operators around Petra, in Jordan’s south.
According to figures from the Petra tourism authority carried by official media, 32 hotels have had to shut down and nearly 700 people have lost their jobs.
Petra, famous for its stunning temples hewn from rose-pink cliff faces, is a UN World Heritage site.
The Jordanian economy relies on revenues from the kingdom’s tourism sector, which accounts for 14 percent of gross domestic product.
Jordan sees tourism slump over Gaza war
https://arab.news/btw4a
Jordan sees tourism slump over Gaza war
- “We feel the repercussions of the aggression on Gaza every day, especially for providers of tourism services,” director of the national tourism board said
- 32 hotels have had to shut down and nearly 700 people have lost their jobs
Aid trucks resume crossing Egypt-Gaza border after closure
- More than 100 aid trucks crossed the Egyptian side of Gaza’s Rafah border crossing on Tuesday, two sources told AFP
RAFAH: More than 100 aid trucks crossed the Egyptian side of Gaza’s Rafah border crossing on Tuesday, two sources told AFP.
Israel closed all crossings into the Gaza Strip on Saturday, after it launched a joint attack on Iran with the United States.
It agreed to reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing, where trucks from Egypt are inspected, for the “gradual entry of humanitarian aid.”
“More than 100 United Nations aid trucks, including UNICEF’s, entered the Rafah border crossing” on Tuesday, a source at the border told AFP on Wednesday on condition of anonymity.
An official with the Egyptian Red Crescent, which coordinates aid deliveries, said the trucks “went through Rafah to the Kerem Shalom crossing,” where Israeli authorities did not send any back to Egypt — their procedure when aid shipments are rejected.
Both sources said no Palestinians were allowed through the crossing on Tuesday.
The Rafah crossing, the only gateway for Gazans to the outside world that does not pass through Israel, had reopened for a trickle of people on February 2, nearly two years after Israeli forces seized it.
A statement from the Red Crescent on Tuesday said the convoy included hundreds of tons of food, relief supplies and “fuel products to operate hospitals and vital facilities.”
The UN had warned its partners were “forced to ration fuel, prioritize life-saving operations” in the devastated Palestinian territory.
The Red Crescent official said another aid convoy was sent on Wednesday and was waiting to be allowed in.
The October peace deal between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas stipulates that 600 aid trucks should be allowed in per day.
