ABSTRACT
Tourism is thriving in Jordan since the peace treaty was signed with Israel in 1994, whereby tourists have flocked to the country in millions (MOTA, 2000). The number of tourists has doubled and tripled many times since then especially after Petra, Jordan’s foremost tourist attraction, won the second place of the World New Seven Wonders competition in 2007 (Harahsheh, 2009). The latest statistics of the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) shows that the number of tourist arrivals to the country was 4.16 million in 2012, increased by 5.1% from 2011 (UNWTO, 2013). Most of the tourists come from the Middle East (48.2%), followed by Jordanians residing abroad (25.4%), Europe (14.2%), America (4.8%), East Asia/ Pacific (4.2%), South Asia (1.9%) and Africa (1.3%). Jordan hosts a lot of natural and man-made attractions that are of great value for tourists to visit. Those include Petra, the new seventh wonder of the world, the Dead Sea, the world’s lowest and saltiest natural spa, the Golf of Aqaba with its red corals, as well as several GrecoRoman cities (the Decapolis) such as, Amman (Philadelphia), Jerash (Gerasa) and Um Qais (Gadara) and Crusader castles such as Kerak, Showbak and Ajlun. Jordan also hosts a lot of world-class museums such as the Royal Automobile Museum, the Children Museum and the Jordan Museum.
