Lower thirds:

00:15 Report by / Fanny Facsar
00:54 Father Francesco Patton
02:10 Waddah Hamamrah / Restaurant manager
02:46 Barbara / Tourist from Canada
03:13 Wajdi Makhamra / Economic analyst

Script:

The first thing we notice on Mount Nebo: quiet. You can look across the Jordan Valley towards the West Bank and Israel - a reminder of how close Jordan is to the conflicts that have reshaped the region.

For generations, especially Christians have travelled here to pray. Today, there are far fewer pilgrims here than you might expect. The geopolitical situation across the region has disrupted pilgrimage and places like Mount Nebo are feeling that absence.

This is where Moses is believed to have seen the so-called promised land.

We meet Father Francesco Patton here. He served as Custos of the Holy Land in Jerusalem for nearly a decade. He was sent here last year to serve pilgrims, but there are hardly any. He shows me around.

+++ Fanny: +++
"What do I see here?"

+++ Father Francesco +++
"This olive tree was planted by Pope John Paul the Second during his visit.  and it is a symbol of peace."

The same quiet fills the church. Usually, a few thousand people come here every day, nowadays, only a few dozen. 

+++ Vox N.N., female +++
"It's an advantage, but economically, it's not. It doesn't bring much, because so many tourists have canceled [their trips]."

That economic impact is felt just ten minutes away, in Madaba. 

Before the US-Iran war and Israel’s war in Gaza, the city attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

It’s unclear how many of these shops will still be open by then. Everyone we speak to says: the region needs peace.

This restaurant has been here since the early 1990s – a family business.

These days, its customers are mostly Jordanians and a few locals who stop by for breakfast. It is nowhere near enough to keep the business going, the manager tells us.

+++ Waddah Hamamrah, Restaurant manager +++
"If this continues, we will be forced to lay staff off. The consequence: unemployment will increase in Madaba: I have about 14 employees and they all come from Madaba. If I close, there will be 15 families without proper income."

This was Petra before October 7th. It was experiencing a tourism boom. In the first half of 2023, almost 700,000 people visited - a record. 

You can have Petra almost to yourself theses day... Jordan’s tourism income fell by nearly 10% compared with the same period last year. Note: In 2025, the number of visitors to Petra rebounded slightly—580,000 people came. 

+++ Vox Barbara +++
"We had all our friends, all our families saying: ‘are you crazy, why are you going? They are bombing Jordan.’ But we checked. But it is the base, not tourist sites. But I think there is a lot of fear."

Wajdi Makhamra is an economist and tells us, Jordan must compensate the losses with domestic tourism and also focus on medical tourism. 

+++ Wajdi Makhamra, Economic Analyst, Amman +++
"If the crisis deepens, it will have a massive impact on the balance of payments, because of the decline in foreign currency earnings. It will also affect economic growth, as tourism is a vital sector of the economy. And it will have an impact on state revenues, with less income from taxes and fees."

Jordan's tourist and religious sites remain quiet. The hope is that it won't stay that way.

END