PETRA: Tending to his camels in Petra, Jordan\u2019s spectacular archeological marvel hidden deep in a desert canyon, Hussein Bdoul is all smiles: The tourists are back.<\/p>\n
After years in which the COVID-19 pandemic turned the storied \u201cRose City\u201d into a ghost town, the father of seven is back at work, offering visitors rides on his decorated animals.<\/p>\n
\u201cTourism has returned and the numbers are even greater,\u201d said Bdoul, 35, wearing Bedouin garb with a red keffiyeh scarf over his long black hair, reflecting on a resurgence last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the time of the coronavirus disease pandemic, we did not see anyone in Petra,\u201d said Bdoul \u2014 a disaster for the town where, he said, \u201c90 percent of people work in tourism.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jordan tourism authorities confirm that Petra is back in business and drew 900,000 visitors last year, close to the record of 1 million set in 2019.<\/p>\n
Jordan as a whole received 4.6 million visitors in 2022 \u2014 almost four times the level from 2020 \u2014 earning the country $5.3 billion.<\/p>\n
Top draw Petra, famous for its stunning temples hewn out of the rose-pink cliff faces, is a United Nations World Heritage site and was chosen as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in a 2007 online poll.<\/p>\n
It was built in 312 BC as the capital of the ancient Arab kingdom of the Nabataeans, which fell to the Romans in 106 BC.<\/p>\n
The ancient city remained unknown in the West until a Swiss traveler visited it in 1812.<\/p>\n
Around 1,700 people make a living from Petra as tour guides, trinket sellers or by taking visitors through the site on donkeys, horses, camels or electric buggies.<\/p>\n
Suleiman Farajat, head of the Petra Development and Tourism Regional Authority, said the post-pandemic tourism comeback had exceeded all expectations.<\/p>\n
The recovery was helped by official promotional campaigns in new overseas markets, low-cost airline flights and new hotel rooms, said Farajat.<\/p>\n
Petra now has 4,000 rooms, and permits have been granted for three new five-star hotels, so capacity will soon almost double from 2019, he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PETRA: Tending to his camels in Petra, Jordan\u2019s spectacular archeological marvel hidden deep in a desert canyon, Hussein Bdoul is all smiles: The tourists are back. After years in which the COVID-19 pandemic turned the storied \u201cRose City\u201d into a ghost town, the father of seven is back at work, offering visitors rides on his …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1770,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[102,90],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-en","category-tourism"],"yoast_head":"\n