The Impact of Arab Spring on Tourism Sector in Jordan

Abstract

The events of Arab Spring in some of Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries,have negatively affected most of economic sectors including tourism in these countries and the surrounding ones. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of Arab Spring events on tourism sector in Jordan, and how a safe country like Jordan was affected by the political instability in the neighboring countries in the region. Two hypotheses were investigated in this study: First, tourism sector has been negatively affected, second, tourism sector has been positively affected due to being a safe country. To investigate these hypotheses, the researchers studied the demand side of tourism including tourists’ numbers, their nationalities, tourism revenues, and entrance gates of tourists based on the available data of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MOTA). The results proved the fitness of the first hypothesis for the period of 2011-2014, where the number of tourists visiting Jordan has declined after Arab Spring events. Recent data of the tourists visiting Jordan shows that tourism sector began to recover gradually reflecting the success of Jordanian government policies which aimed to enhance the image of Jordan as a safe tourism destination. Future research should take into consideration other factors affecting tourism sector such as lack of services and facilities (supply side) as well as government's resilience policies with regard to tourism sector.