Jordan records unparalleled surge in tourists, welcomes 1.4m sightseers
Jordan records unparalleled surge in tourists, welcomes 1.4m sightseers/node/2281941/travel
Jordan records unparalleled surge in tourists, welcomes 1.4m sightseers
Jordan records an unparalleled surge in number of tourists flocking to the country with over 1.47m sightseers visiting during 2023’s first quarter. (Petra)
Jordan records unparalleled surge in tourists, welcomes 1.4m sightseers
The latest Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities monthly bulletin revealed 1.2m overnight tourists in the first quarter 2023, 80.9 percent up on last year, and 1.47 visitors in total
In comparison, in quarter one of 2019, considered a “golden year” for tourism in Jordan, the country welcomed 966,483 overnight tourists and 1.146 million visitors in total
Updated 05 April 2023
Arab News
AMMAN: Jordan has recorded an unparalleled surge in the number of tourists coming to the country, with more than 1.47 million sightseers visiting during the first quarter of 2023.
This record number represents an increase of 90.7 percent compared with the 774,111 holidaymakers who visited during the same period last year, the Jordan News Agency reported on Wednesday.
The latest Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities monthly bulletin also reveals an 80.9 percent rise in the number of overnight tourists to 1.204 million during the quarter, compared with 665,779 a year earlier.
During the first quarter of 2019, considered a “golden year” for tourism in Jordan, the country welcomed 1.146 million visitors and 966,483 overnight tourists.
The number of European visitors increased by 163.9 percent to 198,766 during the first quarter of this year. Visitors from Asia and the Pacific increased by 286.4 percent to 79,232, while the numbers from North, Central and South American countries rose by 159.9 percent to 58,880.
A total of 508,853 tourists from Arab countries visited Jordan during the three-month period, an increase of 61.7 percent, and 8,162 from Africa, a rise of 128.4 percent.
In March, 536,642 tourists visited Jordan, an increase of 43.1 percent on the 375,017 who arrived in March 2022, according to the bulletin.
Jordan has a large number of renowned tourist landmarks and other attractions, including the “Golden Triangle” encompassing Petra, Wadi Rum, Aqaba and the Dead Sea, the Roman Theater in Amman, Mount Nebo, Ajloun Castle, Jerash, the site of the baptism of Jesus Christ, and Karak Castle.
Saudi experts discover and document 58 archaeological sites at Kingdom’s royal reserves
The Imam Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Royal Reserve Development Authority is working with the Heritage Commission to protect, preserve, develop and raise awareness of national heritage
The discoveries includes the remains of stone settlements covered by sand, workshops in which stone tools were manufactured, water installations, ancient inscriptions, and rock art
Updated 17 May 2023
Arab News
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Imam Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Royal Reserve Development Authority has completed a research and documentation project designed to help protect and restore historical and archaeological sites and develop the Kingdom’s heritage, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday.
During the month-long project at King Khalid Royal Reserve and parts of Imam Abdulaziz bin Mohammed Royal Reserve, 58 historical and archaeological sites were discovered and documented.
The research at the sites was part of the work the authority carries out to protect, preserve, develop and raise awareness of national heritage, in cooperation with the Heritage Commission.
The joint efforts of the organizations, which have signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation, included the monitoring of archaeological sites in the royal reserves by satellite and the use of other technologies, which revealed 58 archaeological sites, including the remains of stone settlements that had been covered by sand, workshops in which stone tools were made, water installations, ancient inscriptions dating back to the late Thamudic era more than 1,500 years ago, and rock art.
The teams also visited King Khalid Palace, which is considered one of the jewels of contemporary Saudi architectural heritage. Built during the reign of King Khalid between 1936 and 1938 outside of Riyadh, the two-story palace is made of reinforced concrete, covers an area of 2,700 square meters, stands 12.58 meters tall, and has a 180-square-meter swimming pool.
The palace is included in the National Architectural Heritage Register, and most of the available information about its history and architecture has been collected and preserved. The Heritage Commission and the reserve are working together on the restoration and development of the site.
Meet Capt. Afrah, the first Saudi woman to pilot a hot-air balloon
Flown 55 times including at AlUla’s Skies Festival
22-year-old hopes to make it a full time profession
Updated 16 May 2023
Rashid Hassan
RIYADH: Meet Capt. Afrah Al-Harbi, a 22-year-old AlUla native, who has piloted hot-air balloons 55 times in Saudi Arabia, after becoming the first Saudi woman to obtain a license to navigate these aircraft.
Al-Harbi was trained by the Saudi Arabian Hot-Air Ballooning Federation while pursuing an education in Hotels and Tourism at Taibah University in AlUla.
Hot-air balloon pilot Afrah Al-Harbi is inspiring young women to reach for the skies in their career and hobby. (Supplied)
The federation officially opened its headquarters in AlUla in May 2019, a few months after the success of the inaugural Hot-Air Balloon Festival during the Winter at Tantora Festival earlier that year, when 100 balloons lit up the skies on several nights. The festival presented a blueprint for adventure tourism in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Harbi’s story began at this festival.
There is no better way to experience, enjoy and appreciate AlUla’s majestic landscape and natural beauty than from the air.
Afrah Al-Harbi, Hot-air balloon pilot
“When hot-air ballooning started in AlUla, I saw the balloons but I never thought I would be able to fly one of them,” Al-Harbi told Arab News recently.
When the opportunity to learn arose, Al-Harbi asked herself: “Why not me?” After an initial interview, she was accepted into the training program.
Hot-air balloon pilot Afrah Al-Harbi is inspiring young women to reach for the skies in their career and hobby. (Supplied)
Al-Harbi, one of eight children, said her family has been supportive throughout her journey to make history and become the first Saudi woman to be granted a pilot’s license.
“I have no fear inside me,” she added.
FASTFACT
Afrah Al-Harbi is the first Saudi woman to gain a license to fly hot-air balloons from the Saudi Arabian Hot Air Ballooning Federation in AlUla.
With more than 55 flights to date, Al-Harbi said she would not mind pursuing it as a fulltime career but for now ballooning is a hobby.
Hot-air balloon pilot Afrah Al-Harbi is inspiring young women to reach for the skies in their career and hobby. (Supplied)
Fellow captains Abdulrahman Al-Wohaibi and Hussain Makkawi, who trained at the federation with Al-Harbi, are also amongst the first licensed Saudi hot-air balloon pilots.
Al-Harbi is one of the Saudi pilots designated to fly guests at the AlUla Skies Festival. This is an annual celebration that includes hot-air balloon rides, helicopter tours and other outdoor adventures and attractions near the historic Hegra monument.
“There is no better way to experience, enjoy and appreciate AlUla’s majestic landscape and natural beauty than from the air,” she said.
Saudi tourism minister welcomes football star Lionel Messi as he lands in the Kingdom on family holiday
Messi and his family were pictured soaking up the Saudi sun, playing traditional board game carrom, and feeding a gazelle
Updated 07 May 2023
Arab News
DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s tourism minister took to Twitter on Monday to welcome Argentinian football legend Lionel Messi to the Kingdom.
“I am happy to welcome Saudi Tourism Ambassador Lionel #Messi and his family on his second vacation in Saudi. We are happy to share our authentic Saudi welcome with you all,” Minister of Tourism Ahmed Al-Khateeb tweeted.
I am happy to welcome Saudi Tourism Ambassador Lionel #Messi and his family on his second vacation in Saudi. We are happy to share our authentic Saudi welcome with you all #WelcomeMessi
— Ahmed Al Khateeb أحمد الخطيب (@AhmedAlKhateeb) May 1, 2023
The minister later tweeted pictures of Messi and his family soaking up the Saudi sun, playing traditional board game carrom, and feeding an Arabian gazelle with two of his sons.
“We welcome visitors from all around the world to experience a unique trip to Saudi Arabia and its hospitality,” Al-Khateeb said.
I am happy to welcome #Messi and his family to Saudi to enjoy the magical tourist destinations and authentic experiences.
— Ahmed Al Khateeb أحمد الخطيب (@AhmedAlKhateeb) May 1, 2023
Fans took to social media to share images of the footballer’s arrival in the country.
Fans took to social media to share images of the footballer's arrival in the country (SnapChat)
The footballer’s visit comes just one day after he took to social media to celebrate Saudi Arabia’s natural wonders on Saturday in partnership with Visit Saudi.
The Paris Saint-Germain footballer posted a shot of the Kingdom’s date palm groves, with a caption saying: “Who thought Saudi has so much green? I love to explore its unexpected wonders whenever I can.”
Messi visited the Kingdom last May for Jeddah Season, an annual festival in the coastal city of Jeddah, posting an image of himself on a boat watching the sun setting over the Red Sea. He also toured parts of Jeddah’s old town, a heritage site.
Messi, considered one of the legends of the sport, won the World Cup with Argentina in Qatar last year. He has a large international fanbase with hundreds of millions of followers on social media.
The Argentine is an ambassador with Visit Saudi, the tourism ministry’s promotional brand.
The ministry is tasked with showcasing Saudi Arabia’s natural and cultural treasures to international and domestic tourists as part of reforms known as Saudi Vision 2030.
Football legend Lionel Messi celebrates Saudi Arabia’s ‘unexpected wonders’ and nature
Updated 30 April 2023
Arab News
DUBAI: Argentinian football legend Lionel Messi took to Instagram to celebrate Saudi Arabia’s natural wonders on Saturday in partnership with Visit Saudi.
The Paris Saint-Germain footballer posted a shot of the Kingdom’s date palm groves, with a caption saying: “Who thought Saudi has so much green? I love to explore its unexpected wonders whenever I can.”
Messi visited the Kingdom last May for Jeddah Season, an annual festival in the coastal city of Jeddah, posting an image of himself on a boat watching the sun setting over the Red Sea. He also toured parts of Jeddah’s old town, a heritage site.
Messi, considered one of the legends of the sport, won the World Cup with Argentina in Qatar last year. He has a large international fanbase with hundreds of millions of followers on social media.
The Argentine is an ambassador with Visit Saudi, the tourism ministry’s promotional brand.
The ministry is tasked with showcasing Saudi Arabia’s natural and cultural treasures to international and domestic tourists as part of reforms known as Saudi Vision 2030.
Saudi mountaineer Raha Moharrak is back on top of the world
The first Saudi woman to summit Everest is returning to the world’s highest mountain next month to ‘pass the torch to the next generation’
Updated 28 April 2023
William Mullally
DUBAI: No one climbs a mountain alone. Whether you’re nearing the peak or at the beginning of your journey, there is always a helping hand that helps you achieve what you once thought was impossible. Saudi mountaineer Raha Moharrak has learned this lesson again and again.
In May, 2013, Moharrak became the first Saudi woman to scale Mount Everest. Now, 10 years later, she will provide that helping hand herself — enabling two young women to achieve their dreams along with her as she once again sets off to summit the world’s tallest mountain.
“As long as I’ve been thinking about this journey, I knew I could never return to Everest just to post it on social media. If I was going to go back, I had to give back as well,” Moharrak tells Arab News. “I remember how hard it was to find a sponsor, how hard it was to find a person to take my hand. I want to be that person. I want to be the positive change I once needed so badly — to pass the torch to the next generation of adventurers.”
To find the young women up to the task, Moharrak worked with Adidas to set up a region-wide competition which received thousands of applicants, far more than she had ever anticipated. In the exhaustive selection process that followed, they whittled it down to two, both based in the UAE. Moharrak will be setting off in mid-May with the winners, all sponsored by the world’s second-biggest sportwear brand.
“Going back is amazing. Paying it forward is more amazing. I feel this is a nice ending to the legacy. Being able to open the door to someone’s dream is always what I wanted. I never wanted to be the story itself — I wanted to be the storyteller,” Moharrak says. “I’ve always thought that being the first to do something doesn’t mean as much if you’re also the last.”
As she prepares for her next adventure, Moharrak has been thinking more and more about the people that helped her make history. There’s one, perhaps, she’s been thinking about most of all — Marwa Fayed, who co-founded climbing and trekking company Wild Guanabana with her husband Omar Samra.
“Back when I decided to climb my first mountain 13 years ago, I went online and researched how to do it, and theirs was one the only companies that existed at the time here in the region. It was two or three in the morning during Ramadan when I was on their site, and I saw a little chatbox at the bottom of their website, and thought it was a bot I could message to get more information,” Moharrak explains.
“After a lot of back and forth, in which I made it clear I had a lot of fear about the prospect of climbing a mountain, I asked, ‘Are you a real person?’ They responded, ‘If chatbots were this smart, I’d be out of the job. My name is Marwa, and I’m from Egypt. I’m a woman too, and I know how you feel. It’s going to be OK, and I’m going to help you through this.’”
10 years after she first scaled Mount Everest, Raha Moharrak will enable two young women to achieve their dreams along with her as she once again sets off to summit the world’s tallest mountain. (Supplied)
Inspired by their conversation, Moharrak met with Fayed only a few days later, giving her the down payment but still unsure of how exactly she was going to climb a mountain. In fact, up until only a short while earlier, she’d thought Kilimanjaro was a fruit. This was all startingly new.
“I said, ‘I don’t even know what to wear!’ Marwa said ‘Let’s go’, and we went and bought my first boots. Within a year, I went with her to Everest base camp, and she taught me so much. Without her, I would have been too afraid to do any of this. Because of her, I took the steps that no one had taken before, and the rest, quite literally, is history.”
A year later, Moharrak set off to Everest with the expedition team Arabs with Altitude, along with Mohammed Al-Thani, the Qatari royal who became the first from his country to climb the mountain, and Raed Zidan, the first Palestinian man to make the summit. Fayed wanted to climb Everest, too. She never did. Not long after Moharrak returned from the journey, Fayed died.
“She left a big hole not just in my heart, but in the hearts of many in the community. It was devastating. I get emotional talking about her even now,” says Moharrak.
Raha Moharrak with the late Marwa Fayed, who co-founded climbing and trekking company Wild Guanabana with her husband Omar Samra. (Supplied)
Without the help of that one inspirational woman, Moharrak would have let her call to adventure go unanswered. That’s why she is so intent on helping these young women go with her now, and why she’s bringing the Wild Guanabana team with her.
“I’m paying tribute to Marwa — to this incredible human being that was gone too soon,” she says. “I know that if I pay her incredible gift to me forward — the gift of inspiration — I can keep her legacy alive.”
From the time she was a child, Moharrak has always had an adventurous spirit, but she was always told that an Arab woman — a Saudi woman, no less — could not achieve what she has. She knows now that that the fear and doubt that existed inside her was not natural, it was instilled in her.
“What better way to prove the fallacy of a stereotype than by breaking that stereotype? Because I was a stereotype, and I made a promise to myself as a little girl I wouldn’t stay one,” Moharrak says. “All the recognition, all the accolades, are a nice bonus, but all I really wanted was to keep that promise I made to the little girl that I once was.
“I was once a six year old who believed she was destined to do more, who knew deep down that her gender, her background, her ethnicity, and where she’s from did not dictate her capabilities, in any shape or form,” she continues. “I know now I always had the right to dream big and live even bigger, just as every woman like me does. And with a helping hand, we can overcome any voice that tells us we can’t, from within us or from others.”
Moharrak has her sights set on other goals as well. When she gets back to Everest, she wants to interview her guides, to tell their stories, too. She’s bringing special boots for her main sherpa. She wants to do anything she can to lift up the people who have helped her get to the top of the world. Some day she wants to get to space, she says, but before that, she also wants to take her father, the man who once prayed for her in the mosque every day of her first Everest climb, to Mount Fuji. And after that? She knows there’s more young women she can help.
“I want to make a living out of helping others, just as the people who helped me did,” she says. “My dream is to have a fulfilled life, and that’s what fulfills me most.”
