Arab News: Jordan’s tourism income surged 24.9 percent in July to $926.2 million, narrowing the year-to-date decline to 0.2 percent, with total tourism income reaching $4.42 billion, according to official data.
The recovery, however, remained uneven across visitor markets, with tourism income from Arab nationalities increasing 12.8 percent during the first seven months and income from Asian nationalities rising 3.9 percent, the Jordan News Agency, or Petra, reported, citing preliminary data from the Central Bank of Jordan.
The figures come as tourism across the wider Middle East was hit by regional conflict. International tourist arrivals in the region fell 14 percent in the first quarter of 2026, although Egypt bucked the trend with arrivals increasing 16 percent, according to UN Tourism’s World Tourism Barometer published in June.
Petra added: “During the first seven months of the year, tourism income from Jordanians residing abroad fell by 8.9 percent, while income from US nationals declined by 20.6 percent, European nationalities by 24.7 percent, and other nationalities by 39.7 percent.”
The provisional data also showed that tourism spending by Jordanians and residents rose 0.3 percent in July to $248.1 million, while spending for the first seven months of the year declined 7.5 percent to $1.154 billion.
Conflict hits tourism
Jordan’s tourism sector has faced direct disruption from regional tensions. In March, the Jordanian Association of Travel and Tourism Offices and Companies described the situation as an “unprecedented” crisis for the sector, amid widespread flight cancelations and weaker tourism demand.
UN Tourism said the US-led conflict with Iran disrupted flights to, from and within the Middle East and affected traveler confidence, while higher oil and jet-fuel prices pushed up airfares and reduced flight capacity.
The organization expects the conflict to lower global international-arrival growth by 1 to 2 percentage points from its initial 3 percent to 4 percent forecast for 2026, depending on the conflict’s duration and scope.
Mixed regional trends
Jordan’s July rebound came as other regional tourism markets also recorded growth, with the number of inbound visitors in Oman rising 3.4 percent year on year in July to 362,296.
Revenue at the Sultanate’s 3-to-5-star hotels increased 11.3 percent during the first seven months of the year, according to the National Center for Statistics and Information.
Egypt welcomed 6.1 million tourists during the first four months of 2026, up 7 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to government data. Egypt also reported positive indicators and significant growth in tourist traffic from France.
In June, tourism revenues in Egypt recorded an annual rise of 14.9 percent during the first nine months of the fiscal year, reaching approximately $14.4 billion, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said.
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2655083/business-economy
