Khaberni - The acting chairman of the Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority, Shaker Al-Adwan, stated that the city of Petra witnessed active tourist movement during the Eid Al-Adha break, with a total of about 8600 visitors in the first three days of the holiday, distributed among foreigners, Arabs, residents, and Jordanians as part of the "Our Jordan is a Paradise" program.
Al-Adwan explained, on Friday, via Al-Mamlaka channel, that Petra welcomed about 1100 visitors on Tuesday, while the number increased on Wednesday to 2159 visitors, before the city recorded more than 5300 visitors on Thursday, describing it as a very active tourist movement.
He confirmed that the Petra Region Development and Tourism Authority has a comprehensive operational plan for managing the archaeological site, along with high readiness both inside the archaeological reserve and across various departments involved in logistical support to host visitors from inside and outside the kingdom.
He pointed out that the tourism activity during the Eid period occurred due to several main reasons, among them the Eid break itself, and the active movement of Jordanian visitors as part of the "Our Jordan is a Paradise" program, in addition to Jordanians residing and returning from neighboring countries.
Al-Adwan indicated that there is a real partnership with the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority in the field of marine tourism through sea ports, especially given the geopolitical conditions that have affected the region and led to the suspension of air or land transport.
He added that the authority is working in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism, the Tourism Promotion Authority, and the private sector to activate a system of events and tourism activities aimed at attracting the largest possible number of visitors to the archaeological city of Petra, noting that a recently held event saw the participation of about 2200 people, and contributed to fully booking 6-7 hotels, which helped increase tourism spending and extend visitors' stays, describing this as a strategic goal for the authority.
Regarding the sustainability of tourism movement, Al-Adwan explained that Petra relies mainly on foreign national tourists, noting that between 80 to 85% of visitors to Jordan from non-Arab nationalities come with the intention of visiting Petra, as it represents a preferred destination for heritage and historical tourism for many nationalities.
He mentioned that the geopolitical conditions, the recent war, and Iranian-Israeli tensions directly affected air travel, especially low-cost aviation, confirming that sustaining tourism requires activating tourism events, enhancing partnerships with airlines, and activating the maritime port between Jordan and Egypt, and revitalizing cruise tourism as one of the important pathways for the sustainability of the tourism sector in light of political challenges.
Al-Adwan affirmed that the commercial and tourism sectors in Petra suffered clear damage in the past period, noting that, in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism, a crisis cell was formed to assess the size of these damages and address them.
He said that domestic tourism is important, but the nature of visitors to Petra differs, explaining that visitors most frequenting the city are from European and American nationalities, while Jordanian and Arab visitors generally prefer destinations with water bodies and shopping sites, making Aqaba more attractive to these categories compared to Petra.
He added that Jordan was negatively affected by the classifications of some international entities during periods of tension, despite being a safe country, noting that Jordan was classified in the "red zone" during the Gaza war, while Israel was classified in orange, considering that this situation harmed the tourist movement in the kingdom.
Al-Adwan pointed out the existence of 17 projects funded by the US government aimed at supporting the sustainability of the tourism sector in Petra, including infrastructure development, tourist conveyance operations, tourism marketing, and the use of modern technology for promotion.
He also mentioned that there are understandings with private entities aimed at attracting influencers and the most influential figures to promote Petra, confirming that the authority is currently evaluating the most effective marketing tools for attracting tourists.
He stated that Petra does not only rely on heritage tourism linked to visiting Al-Khazneh, Al-Siq, and Ad-Deir but is also striving to develop new tourism models, including the film industry, noting that the city has become a destination for this sector as part of the economic modernization vision.
Al-Adwan confirmed that Petra, being one of the seven wonders of the world, possesses significant attributes that require more focus and joint work between various official and private entities to ensure the sustainability of tourism movement and gradually return the sector to its normal levels.
