Gov’t nearly doubles tourism board allocations in light of sector’s rising revenue

AMMAN — The government has increased the Jordan Tourism Board's (JTB) allocations in 2019 from JD9 million to JD17 million, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said on Tuesday.

A ministry statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, said the decision to increase the JTB’s budget was made taking into consideration the board’s role as the tourism marketing arm of Jordan.

An increase in allocations has helped boost tourism indicators in 2018, as the total number of tourists to Jordan increased by 7.8 per cent to reach 4.9 million visitors, while overnight visitors reached 4.15 million, an 8 per cent increase, the statement added.

As a result, the country’s total revenues from tourism in 2018 grew 8 per cent to reach JD3.727 billion, according to Petra.

During the first quarter of 2019, some 1.633 million tourists visited Jordan, with the number of overnight tourists reaching 1.356 million visitors, up 2.5 and 2.1 per cent, respectively, compared with the same period of 2018. 

During the first quarter of 2019, tourism revenue has risen by 6.1 per cent in comparison with the same period of last year, according to the ministry. 

The Tourism Ministry highlighted that it had allocated an additional JD37 million to the JTB’s 2015, 2016 and 2017 budgets, in addition to almost doubling this year’s budget to JD17 million, the statement said.

Private sector contributions to the JTB budget amount to some JD3 million annually, the ministry underlined.

According to the statement, the JTB has recommended that the government cancels departure tax for the Aqaba and Marka airports to support the reception of low-cost flights and air charter.

Charter and low-cost flights have generated, in a single year, an additional JD33.678 million in revenue, while unified ticket sales have increased by 280 per cent, according to Petra.

Revenues generated by unified ticket sales have accrued to a total of JD6.4 million, denoting a 166 per cent increase in revenues, compared with the same period in 2018.

The ministry noted that Jordan is the first Arab country to implement a unified ticketing system that grants entry to around 40 tourist sites.