Jordan stands out as outstanding adrenaline adventure destination — Sunday Times

AMMAN — Jordan is an “outstanding” destination with opportunities for adrenaline adventures provided by its landscape, The Sunday Times has reported recently.

“The Kingdom has a lot of history. Petra, the lost city of the Nabataeans, is like a dream. The Dead Sea is astonishing. There are crusader castles and Roman cities,” said the newspaper.

“It’s all amazing, but, in the best sense, it’s old news. What most of us haven’t previously recognised — and the Jordanians are only just waking up to themselves — are the outstanding opportunities for adrenaline and adventure that the country’s landscape provides,” according to reporter Chris Haslam.

“Despite its proximity to Iraq, Israel and Syria, Jordan is pretty safe. As the locals say, ‘it’s a quiet house with noisy neighbours’. So you’ll have to create your own excitement. Here are the trips to do it,” added the paper.

Murad Arsalan, a Jordanian tourist guide who is specialised in adventure trips, told The Jordan Times that the Kingdom has “countless” activities and adventures across its deserts and canyons that are “unsung” for the world.

Arsalan, who has been shortlisted as runner-up for the best tour leader of one of the UK’s leading travel agencies, said that the adventures include: Canyoning, trekking and rock climbing.

“It is amazing to camp in Wadi Rum, but it is one the top rock climbing destinations in the globe,” said Arsalan, adding that the valley is a UNESCO world heritage site.

The tourist guide underscored the importance of the book “Treks and Climbs in Wadi Rum, Jordan” by Tony Howard in 1984, which introduced the attraction to international climbers.

The newspaper outlined a number of trips in the Kingdom including hiking the “secret” back trail of Petra starting from Little Petra, biking from the Dead Sea to the Red sea for around 450km, following the footsteps of Lawrence of Arabia in Wadi Rum, and trekking the 400-mile Jordan Trail.

At the many canyons of the western edge of Jordan, the guide said, people can explore the ravines in activities that include scrambling, swimming and abseiling.

Some of the canyons are well-known such as the wadis of Mujib and Karak, while many have seen less explorers such as Wadi Himarah, which has the highest waterfall in Jordan, said Arsalan.

For the Jordan Trail, Arsalan said that people can hike the entire route or choose part of it such as the Dana-to-Petra section, which is one of National Geographic’s best 13 trails in the world.

It is believed that prophets Jesus, Moses, and Mohammad all walked this path, according to the guide.

The trail has already been billed as the “Inca Trail of the Middle East”, according to several travel guides and agencies.

Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) Director Abed Al Razzaq Arabiyat told The Jordan Times on Saturday that the report reflects the efforts of the board in “placing Jordan on the world’s tourism map” despite the regional turmoil and the economic challenges facing the Kingdom.

He added that the JTB has hosted several writers, journalists and bloggers, who explored Jordan, lived in Jordan and told the world about their experience in the Kingdom. 

Recently, Petra and the Jordan Trail were chosen to be among the “best” global destinations to visit in 2018 by international travel magazines such as National Geographic and Condé Nast Traveller.

In recent remarks to The Jordan Times, Toursim Minister Lina Annab said that tourism figures in 2017 where higher than expected, adding that the figures will keep increasing this year.

The World Trade Organisation’s figures have indicated a 4 per cent drop in tourists’ numbers in the region in 2017, but Jordan witnessed a hike instead, the minister said.

The number of overnight tourists until the end of November increased by 9.5 per cent, reaching 3.911 million visitors, compared with 3.574 million during the same period of last year, the ministry’s figures showed.

Meanwhile, the number of one-day visitors during the first 11 months of this year increased by 6.4 per cent in comparison to the same period in 2016.