Tourism revenues in January went up by 9.1% to JD458m ($646m), compared with JD420m ($339m) in the same month last year, the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) announced on February 19.
In a statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, the CBJ attributed the revenue increase to a 4.8% rise in inbound tourism, compared with January, 2018.
Total tourism revenues surpassed the $5bn mark in 2018, marking an 8% increase from 2017’s $4.6bn, CBJ data revealed in January.
The sector’s performance indicators showed a rise in the number of overnight tourists, to about 860m by the end of November 2018, up 8% compared with the same period of 2017, according to Tourism Ministry figures.
The number of one-day visitors was 721,325, up by 7.8% from the same period in 2017.
Some 800,000 people visited Petra by the end of November 2018, marking a 33% rise.
Further to the north, some 308,000 people visited Jerash by the end of November 2018, the figures show, citing a 30% increase.
Mount Nebo saw the second highest comparative growth rate with some 444,000 visitors by November 2018, approximately 155% from 2017’s figures for the same period.
Meanwhile, the Baptism Site saw the highest increase in the total number of visitors, at 395%, with some 131,000 visitors for the same comparative duration.
Some 225,000 tourists visited Wadi Rum by November 2018, up by 36%, while Ajloun received some 243,000, showing a 24.5% rise, from 2017’s same duration. 
Madaba Church saw 291,000 visitors (a 42% increase) and tourists to Karak reached 26,000 visitors (a 71% increase), according to the statement.
This edited article was first published by The Jordan Times