AMMAN — The Kingdom's hotels in Amman, the Dead Sea and Petra saw occupancy declines during the last week of June, according to data released on Thursday by the Jordan Hotel Association (JHA), which showed a variation in occupancy between hotel categories and different tourist sites.

 

According to the figures, the occupancy rate of five-star hotels in Amman was 29 per cent, followed by four-star hotels at 24per cent, and three-star hotels at 22 per cent.

 

At the Dead Sea, five-star hotels recorded occupancy rates of 25 per cent and four-star hotels recorded 9 per cent, while no data was recorded for three-star hotels in the region.

 

In Petra, occupancy rates were 7 per cent, 1 per cent and 3 per cent for the three categories respectively.

 

In the JHA's analytical reading, it explained that Amman's hotels witnessed a decline of 13 per cent compared with the previous week, affected by the current regional developments that reflected on the inbound tourism movement.

 

It also indicated that the majority of the current occupancy in the capital's hotels is due to visitors of different nationalities, including those coming from neighboring countries, According to Al Rai Newspaper.

 

In the Dead Sea region, a decrease of 22 per cent was seen compared with the previous two weeks, reflecting a decline in demand for this important tourist destination.

 

In Petra, the JHA described the situation as among the most affected, due to its "heavy" dependency on foreign tourism, noting that the rates of cancellation of reservations for "organised" tourist groups from abroad ranged between 95 per cent and 100 per cent.

 

It also explained that the "remaining" reservations are mostly due to visitors who entered the Kingdom before the escalation of the crisis, without registering the arrival of new tourist groups so far.

 

It is expected that the end of the Israeli-Iranian confrontation will reflect "positively" on tourism in the region in the coming period, coinciding with the "gradual" return of air traffic to its normal track.