Tourists at the Mosaic Map in the St George Greek Orthodox Church in Madaba, some 30km southwest of Amman (Photo by Amjad Ghsoun)

AMMAN — The number of visitors arriving in Jordan during June rose by 26.5 per cent to some 455,383 people, whereas the number of overnight visitors reached 393,761 people, rising by 26.4 per cent compared with the same period last year.

Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Majd Shweikeh on Wednesday said that monthly statistical indicators showed an improvement in the tourism sector's performance, which she attributed to expanded marketing in traditional and promising markets and new low-cost flights, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The minister noted that statistical indicators for the year have been positive so far, with the total number of visitors to the Kingdom between January and June of this year standing at 2,438,584 people; an increase of 5.6 per cent.

Shweikeh added that the number of overnight visitors during the first sixth months of the year stood at 2,031,268 people, climbing 5.2 per cent compared with the same period last year.

She noted that visitors from European countries grew by 36.8 per cent, followed by North and South American countries by 19.1 per cent, Asian and Pacific countries by 8.2 per cent and African countries by 2.9 per cent.

Indicators also showed an increase of visitors at tourist sites during the month of June, as the number of tourists to Petra rose by 30.9 per cent, reaching 533,023 people, while the number of Jerash visitors increased by 34.4 per cent to 229,089 people, compared with the same period of last year.

A higher number of visitors were also recorded at Wadi Rum, Madaba’s Mosaic Map and Mount Nebo, with spikes of 56.6 per cent, 56.7 per cent and 42.7 per cent, respectively.