Petra maintains upwards trend in number of visitors

AMMAN — The Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority (PDTRA) Chief Commissioner Suleiman Farajat on Sunday said the number of visitors to Petra increased by approximately 33 per cent during May, compared with the same period last year.

The ancient city of Petra has seen active tourist movement since the beginning of 2019, said Farajat, as quoted by Jordan News Agency, Petra, adding that the number of visitors to the city over the past five months exceeded 465,000.

A total of 87,622 tourists of various nationalities visited Petra during May of this year, while 5,759 Jordanian and Arab tourists visited the ancient city, in addition to 585 school trips, he noted.

He said that the number of foreign tourists who visited Petra increased by approximately 47 per cent compared with the same period of 2018.

In the first third of 2019, the number of visitors to Petra increased by 108,821 to 377,385 visitors from various nationalities, compared with 292,334 visitors for the same period in 2018, he added.

Such an increase requires more development and investment projects in Petra’s tourism infrastructure and services to extend the visitors’ stay, Farajat stressed.

Efforts must focus on overcoming obstacles hindering investment in the Petra region, in order to improve the quality and level of services provided to the local communities and tourists, Farajat highlighted.