During the New Year's holiday and coinciding with the launch of the Amwaj Festival and the Aqaba Carnival, the city of Aqaba witnessed an active tourist movement and hotel reservations exceeded 80 percent.
According to hotel owners, some beach hotels witnessed an occupancy rate of 100 percent, while the rate ranged between 60 and 80 percent in non-beach hotels. The tourist movement was active thanks to the tourist groups of Arab nationalities that arrived in Aqaba last week.
The tourist and commercial movement in Aqaba witnessed a noticeable activity during the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025.
He pointed out that the authority launched the first program targeting local tourism under the name of Aqaba Carnival, which is an annual program that offers discounts on consumer goods to all visitors, residents and foreigners in cooperation with stores and hotels. It also launched the first edition of the Aqaba Waves Festival in cooperation with the management of the Jerash Festival, which will continue until the end of 2025, with the aim of extending the visitor's stay.
He pointed out that the aim of launching the Aqaba Carnival and the Aqaba Waves Festival is to stimulate domestic and foreign tourism alike, as their program includes commercial offers that suit the consumer, as well as artistic concerts by Arab artists, cultural and artistic events and activities, and plays presented by local and international groups that attract large numbers of visitors.
He explained that until the end of last November, the percentage of decrease in the number of visitors was about 20 percent, while the number of visitors who booked hotel rooms exceeded about 10,000 visitors until the end of 2024, thanks to cooperation with the Tourism Promotion Authority and tourism offices operating in the city of Aqaba.
