Cruise ships dock in Aqaba marking winter tourism season

AMMAN — Two cruise ships carrying around 3,000 European tourists docked in Aqaba Port on Saturday.

The tourists’ itinerary comprises of Aqaba, Wadi Rum and Petra, and the two ships are part of the cruise ship season which started in September and will last until February, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) Spokesperson Abdul Mahdi Qatamin expected a third ship to arrive later in the day with more than 2,000 European tourists aboard. 

Qatamin said that ASEZA had prepared a programme to receive the ships and transfer the tourists to the city centre, before they left for Wadi Rum and Petra.

He added that the authorities, in cooperation with stakeholders, had prepared for the winter tourism season according to the “highest standards”.

More than 43,000 tourists visited the port city via cruise ships in 2016.

Fourteen cruise liners dropped anchor in Aqaba during April, carrying around 16,000 one-day and overnight visitors, mostly from European countries.

As well as spending time in Aqaba, the tourists’ itinerary included other destinations in the “Golden Triangle”, the destinations of Aqaba, Petra and Wadi Rum.

Some of them also visited sites outside of the triangle, such as the Baptism Site and the Dead Sea.