Abstract

Petra is a mature tourism destination in the south of Jordan with a degree of seasonality over the last 10 years. Despite the recognized importance of Petra for the tourism industry in Jordan, there has been a lack of studies that discuss seasonal demand variations and its impacts on other related industries in the region. Yet, this study aims at analyzing patterns and effects of seasonality of tourism demand in Petra for the period 2006-2017. The required data was obtained from Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA). Four methods were used to measure tourism seasonality in Petra. These are: Seasonality indicator; Seasonality ratio; Gini coefficient; and Seasonality index. The results of the study showed a modest level of tourism seasonality in the study area. Among methods, Seasonality index appeared to be the appropriate and simple way to calculate seasonality patterns at tourism destinations. The results showed that there are two peaks of seasonality in tourism demand of Petra. The first and the highest one was in April and the second took place in the months of October and November. In addition, seven months represented the low season of tourism demand in Petra. These are December, January and February as well as June, July, August and September. The tourism seasonality in Petra based on that is mainly due to the weather in these months which represent the coldest and warmest months in the year respectively.

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