Tourism revenue rises 22.8% in January to $680.5m — CBJ

AMMAN — Tourism revenue rose by 22.8 per cent in January, reaching $680.5 million, up from $554.2 million in the same month of 2024, according to data released by the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) on Wednesday.

The increase was driven by a 22.7 per cent rise in income from Jordanian expatriates, a 20.2 per cent rise from non-Jordanian Arabs and a 30.7 per cent rise from non-Arab visitors, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The data showed a "significant" increase in spending on outbound tourism, which rose by 29.4 per cent to $184.9 million in January 2025, compared to $142.9 million in January 2024.

In 2024, the Kingdom’s tourism revenue amounted to JD7.239 billion, marking a 2.3 per cent decline compared to 2023, according to CBJ data announced in January.

According to the January data, this decrease was attributed to a 3.9 per cent drop in the number of tourists.

The CBJ data also showed an increase in tourism revenue from Jordanian expatriates by 7.7 per cent and from non-Jordanian Arab tourists by 12 per cent.

In contrast, tourism revenue from European, American and other nationalities declined by 54 per cent, 35.2 per cent, and 15.3 per cent, respectively.

An International Monetary Fund report said in June 2024 that the impact of the war on Gaza, which started on October 7, 2023, was concentrated on the tourism sector as a result of the cancellations by tourists from advanced economies, which account for a third of tourism revenues.