Amman to host regional tourism conference

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Tourism Minister Lina Annab announced that Amman will host the first regional conference on tourism in MENA cities, held under the title “Competitiveness for Sustainable Development”, a statement from Lawrence Conferences & Hussieni Consult said.

The event, scheduled between November 13 and 14, will be organised in cooperation with the Tourism Ministry, the Greater Amman Municipality, the Tourism Board, Lawrence Conferences & Hussieni Consult, with the support of the World Tourism Organisation, the statement said.

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Children Museum Jordan reaches award final round

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AMMAN — The Children Museum Jordan on Wednesday announced that it reached the final round of the 2017 Children Museums Award, for its project titled “Mobile Museum of Children”.

The announcement came after a jury meeting of the Children in Museums Award in Amsterdam in late June, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

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Natural ingredients key to Jerash’s famous dairy produce

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Among Jordanians, the city of Jerash is famous for its high quality, fresh dairy products, which are still prepared using traditional methods. 

Visitors to Jerash often purchase Labaneh Jarashiyeh, a kind of strained yoghurt, which is a signature product of the city, 48km north of Amman. 

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Princess Sanaa attends opening of 23rd Shabib Festival

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AMMAN — HRH Princess Sanaa Asem on Wednesday attended the opening ceremony of the 23rd Shabib Festival at the Roman Theatre in Amman, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The festival’s Higher Executive Committee President Sharifa Budur Bint Asem, said that the festival has succeeded in delivering its message of diversity in arts and culture.

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First of-its-kind’ Hellenistic temple discovered in Umm Qais

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 A “first-of-its-kind” Hellenistic temple in the Levant region has been discovered in Umm Qais, an archaeologist said on Monday.

An archaeological excavation team from Yarmouk University has recently discovered a Hellenistic temple and network of water tunnels, Atef Sheyyab, president of the archaeology department at the university told the Jordan Times.

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Roman Amphitheater, Amman

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Dating back to the second century, Roman Amphitheater speaks to the period of Roman rule over Amman, when the city was known as Philadelphia. The construction of the 6,000-seat amphitheater into the hillside at a steep angle kept the sun off spectators and created excellent acoustics, which enabled audience members even at the top seat to hear people in the arena.

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Kenyans removed from restricted nationality list

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AMMAN — The Cabinet on Wednesday decided to remove Kenyans from the restricted-nationality list, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The decision came in line with government’s plans to increase investment and to open up to the African market.

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Amman: White City

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Jordan's capital city, Amman spreads across 19 hills and includes many distinct districts, each with their own historical and cultural marvels. The topography of the city adds to the sense of eclecticism and discovery, with hidden areas and surprises lying out of sight and ready to be explored.

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Spanish Archaeological Mission strives to excavate Jordan’s treasures

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AMMAN — For archaeological expert Juan Ramón Muñiz, the Spanish Archaeological Mission in Jordan is a symbol of “the cultural friendship that exists between the two countries, with bonds that transcend the sole scientific purposes”.
 
Muñiz, who is the director of the ongoing excavations at Jabal Al Mutawwaq — a site located along the Zarqa River, a few kilometres southeast of Jerash and 48km north of Amman — has come to find “a great collaboration” between the two countries at an institutional level.
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2,152 visit Islamic shrines in Southern Mazar in June

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AMMAN — A total of 2,152 people visited the tombs of Prophet Mohammad’s companions in the Southern Mazar last June.

Mohammad Sarairah, the supervisor of the shrines, said that 1,285 of the visitors were Muslims from Turkey, the US, Pakistan, China, India, Malaysia and several African and European countries, while 485 visitors were Arabs and 362 were Jordanians. In May, some 2,609 people visited the Islamic shrines.

 

Jerash: A Rome Away From Rome

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A close second to Petra on the list of favourite destinations in Jordan is the ancient city of Jerash, which boasts an unbroken chain of human occupation dating back more than 6,500 years.

Jerash lies on a plain surrounded by hilly wooded areas and fertile basins. Conquered by General Pompey in 63 BC, it came under Roman rule and was one of the ten great Roman cities of the Decapolis League. 

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Qusayr Amra a lens onto production of early Islamic art

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AMMAN — The Second Janet Abu Lughod seminar, organised by Studio-X Amman and Sijal Institute for Arabic Language and Culture was a “wonderful opportunity to engage deeply with a diverse and bright group of participants in Amman on the singular topic of Qusayr Amra”, said Khaled Malas, a PhD candidate at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. 

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Tourism Ministry allows 300 cafés to serve hookah

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The Tourism Ministry on Saturday allowed some 300 restaurants and cafés to serve hookah without issuing fines against them provided that they rectify their status by December 31.

In case of exceeding the given period, legal actions will be taken against the establishments in accordance with the law, the ministry noted.

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Jordan Food Exhibition to begin on July 5

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AMMAN — The five-day Jordan Food Exhibition 2017 is scheduled to begin on July 5 at Expo Land on airport road, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 
 
Jordan Food Exhibition 2017 will allow visitors to sample the “high standards of all Jordan’s food imports and products”, Petra said, adding that it will be open to the public from 4pm until midnight and will include various events, including games for children. 
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Travel in Jordan

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Amman, northern Jordan is home to other ancient cities of the Decapolis. These include Jarash (Gerasa), Umm Qays (Gadara), Tabaqat Fahl or Fihil (Pella), Bayt Ras (Capitolias), and Quwayliba (Abila). Jarash, straddling one of the ancient world's key trade routes, offers extensive and breathtaking ruins of colonnaded streets, arches, temples, and baths in a remarkable state of preservation and completeness.

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Salt to be nominated as UNESCO world heritage site

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AMMAN — Tourism Minister Lina Annab is scheduled to head Jordan’s delegation to the 41st session of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Monday.

Annab said that the session’s agenda includes nominating Salt’s historical town, 35km northwest of Amman, to be listed as a world heritage site.

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Jordan not just Petra, Dead Sea, tourism sector leaders agree

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AMMAN — “Unfamiliar” tourist sites around the Kingdom can be promoted as providing visual experiences and opportunities for interaction with local residents through new marketing campaigns, representatives from the tourism sector said on Tuesday.

In an article posted recently on Middle East social news website www.stepfeed.com, 14 tourist attractions around Jordan “that aren’t Petra, Amman, and the Dead Sea” were promoted.

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Jordan Food Exhibition 2017 kicks off

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AMMAN — Deputising for His Majesty King Abdullah, Water and Irrigation Minister Hazem Nasser on Wednesday opened the Jordan Food Exhibition 2017, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The five-day fair, which is held at the Expo Land near airport, is organised by the International Promoters Company (IPCO), in cooperation with Amman Chamber of Industry, the Islamic International Arab Bank and Giant Industrial Group.

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Jordan’s Tourism Income Up 14.5% in Six Months

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The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) said on Sunday that the kingdom saw a rise in tourism revenues by 14.5% during the first half of the year to a total of $2.1 billion.

In a press release, the CBJ attributed the rise in the sector’s income to the growth in the number of tourists by 9.9% year-on-year.

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Al Hussein Park to close during Amman Summer Festival

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AMMAN —The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) on Tuesday announced that Al Hussein Park will close during the Amman Summer Festival from July 6 until July 15, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The decision is intended to facilitate the movement of vehicles and pedestrians inside the park, except for visitors to the Royal Automobile Museum.

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Travel in Jordan

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Amman, northern Jordan is home to other ancient cities of the Decapolis. These include Jarash (Gerasa), Umm Qays (Gadara), Tabaqat Fahl or Fihil (Pella), Bayt Ras (Capitolias), and Quwayliba (Abila). Jarash, straddling one of the ancient world's key trade routes, offers extensive and breathtaking ruins of colonnaded streets, arches, temples, and baths in a remarkable state of preservation and completeness.

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32nd Jerash festival begins

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AMMAN — The 32nd Jerash Festival of Culture and Arts officially opened on Thursday with the lighting of the torch by Prime Minister Hani Mulki in the centre of the historical Greco-Roman city.
 
Under the patronage of His Majesty of King Abdullah, this year’s festival will feature performances by several renowned Arab singers, local, Arab and international troupes, and poetry recitals, in addition to exhibitions of arts, handicrafts and local products, according to the organisers. 
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January-May tourist rates rise by 10.5%

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AMMAN —Tourism Minister Lina Annab said that the number of tourists to the Kingdom in the first five months of the year increased by 10.5 per cent, compared with the same period of last year.

A total of 2.6 million tourists visited Jordan until the end of this year’s May, compared with 1.864 million visitors to the country in the same period of 2016. 

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