Petra, the ancient Nabatean city, welcomed its millionth visitor in one year for the second time in history, surpassing this milestone on Saturday, following a similar achievement in 2019.

According to data released by the Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority, the rose-red city received 1,003,879 visitors from various nationalities.

During the first nine months of this year, Petra received 967,883 visitors, marking a remarkable surge in the tourism sector.

This figure represents a 71 percent increase compared to the same period in 2022.

In September alone, Petra hosted nearly 120,000 individuals, including 15,000 Jordanians and 4,862 Arab visitors, as reported by the authority.

This represents a 25 percent rise from September 2019, which witnessed the first million-visitor milestone, and nearly half as much again as September 2022.

Within Petra, there are 63 facilities, including six five-star hotels with a total of 3,245 rooms and 5,477 beds.

The authority emphasized that it has provided incentives for the establishment of 13 new hotels of various classifications.

One of the key attractions contributing to the rise in tourism is the cultural village located within the Golden Triangle, alongside Aqaba and Wadi Rum.

The village hosted musical bands and artists, including the Saudi singer Mohammed Abdo, and the Lebanese singer Hiba Tawaji, as well as the Syrian artist Faia Younan.

Suleiman Al-Farajat, the Chairman of the Petra Development and Tourism Region Council, earlier stated that Petra continues to experience an increase in visitor numbers and projected that it may conclude the tourism year with a record-breaking figure of up to one and a half million visitors.

In the first five months of the current year, Petra was visited by approximately 610,722 individuals from diverse nationalities, according to the regular statistics released by the authority.