Tourism income in Jordan increased by 161.1 percent on an annual basis during the first eight months of this year, with the improvement of the incoming tourism movement to the country.\
According to central bank data, Jordan earned about 2.6 billion dinars ($3.66 billion) between January and August.
The increase came as a result of the increase in the number of tourists coming to the country by more than one million visitors to reach 3.175 million tourists during the mentioned period. Tourism income increased by 82.4 percent, compared to the corresponding month of last year, reaching 583.1 million dinars (822.4 million dollars), after recording the arrival of more than 715,500 tourists.
In terms of Jordanian spending on travel, data indicate an increase in spending on tourism outside the Kingdom last August by 51.6 percent annually to 122.5 million dinars (172.8 million dollars). Thus, spending on tourism outside the local market amounted to 712.2 million dinars (about one billion dollars) during the first eight months of this year, an increase of 89.4 percent on an annual basis. Tourism is one of the most important sectors supporting the Jordanian economy and generating hard currency, and it is indirectly intertwined with nearly 90 professions. The sector contributes about 10 percent of the GDP, and more than 55 thousand workers are employed in this vital sector.
The source (Al-Arab Newspaper of London, Edited)
