Petra received 43,901 visitors in September as foreign arrivals remained weaker

Petra received 43,901 visitors in September 2026, according to the Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority. That was 8% below the 47,658 recorded in September 2025. Authority chief Adnan Sawa’ir said activity improved in the second half of the month, coinciding with the resumption and stabilisation of air travel. The statement suggests a possible connection, but the published counts alone do not establish that flight patterns caused the change in visitors.

Foreign visitors accounted for about half of September’s total. Their number was 21,995, compared with 25,931 a year earlier. The month also included 3,560 Arab visitors, 17,136 Jordanians and 1,057 residents. The authority reported an average of about 1,463 visitors per day. These totals provide a view of visitor categories and a comparable annual benchmark; they do not measure spending, overnight stays, or the contribution of each group to Petra’s local economy.

The longer period presents a different picture for Jordanian visitors. Petra recorded 362,215 visitors from January through September 2026, down from 372,779 in the same period of 2025, a decline of 2.8%. Within that total, Jordanian visitors increased from 114,187 to 144,536, a 26.6% rise. Arab visitors also increased, from 20,389 to 21,065, or 3.3%. Growth in these groups did not translate into an increase in overall attendance.

The foreign visitor decline is a prominent part of that gap. Foreign arrivals over the first nine months fell from 224,296 to 184,387, a reduction of 17.8%. In other words, the increase in domestic visits and visitors from Arab countries was not enough, by visitor count, to offset the decrease in foreign visitors. The source covers Petra alone, however. It is not a measure of tourist flows across all of Jordan, nor does it show whether Petra visitors also travelled to other parts of the country.

In September, the United States was the largest named foreign market, with 3,803 visitors. Russia accounted for 3,004, Spain 1,653, the United Kingdom 1,437 and Germany 1,178. The five-country list offers only a partial view of market diversity because the authority did not publish a full nationality breakdown in the release. Visitor counts also differ from spending per person, package purchases, seasonal capacity, or revenue for local businesses.

Stability in air connections may matter for Petra, but a fuller assessment of demand would need seat capacity, cancellations, overnight stays and visitor spending. The authority’s statement that activity improved in the second half cannot be tested for scale because daily or weekly counts were not published. It highlighted promotion and cooperation with aviation-sector stakeholders, but gave no budget, target markets, timetable or performance measures for those activities.

The data show two things at once: September attendance at Petra remained lower year on year, while Jordanian visits increased over the first nine months. This is why total attendance should be read with its market composition. Future monthly figures for foreign visitors, air access, overnight stays, ticket income and visitor spending would help show whether a recovery is taking shape through more visits, higher spending, or both.