ANN RUPPENSTEIN
To put the devastating impact that the Gaza war has had on tourism across the country into perspective, Malia Asfour said renowned sites like Petra, famous for its one-of-a-kind rock-cut architecture, went from “over tourism to no tourism” over the past two years as people avoided travelling to the region.
“We usually get an average of 5,000 visitors a day to Petra and now we’re at trickles. You can imagine the impact that has on the people, the culture and the local economy in Petra. Most of the people in Petra work in the tourism sector so to go to having no income is devastating,” shared the managing director for the Jordan Tourism Board in North America. “Many hotels have had to close unfortunately because of this and it’s only because we are victims of misperception. If there are riots in L.A., should that stop us from going to Las Vegas or to Santa Fe? If there’s a problem in Toronto, should that keep us from going to Montreal? This is the kind of perception that we suffer from, to give you perspective.”
Fresh off having 700 travel advisors, industry personnel and media in the destination recently to see what Jordan offers during a special showcase of community tourism with G Adventures called GX Jordan, Asfour hopes the message spreads that Jordan is safe and ready to welcome back more travellers.
“Tourism is our oil, it’s our largest foreign currency earner in the country, so when we don’t have tourism it affects us economically across the board,” she said. “We need more people to come and experience this incredible country… You cannot see sites like Petra anywhere else in the world.”
“We usually get an average of 5,000 visitors a day to Petra and now we’re at trickles. You can imagine the impact that has on the people, the culture and the local economy in Petra. Most of the people in Petra work in the tourism sector, so to go to having no income is devastating”
–Malia Asfour, managing director for the Jordan Tourism Board in North America
While community tourism has already been a focus of the tourism board, Asfour said that they are striving towards tourism that benefits local communities, helps alleviate poverty and increases employment opportunities.
“We want to empower local communities, spread tourism dollars over the country where it is needed the most and lead with purpose,” she said. “We want to spread how tourism can be a force for good.”
Back in 2018, the tourism board introduced the Meaningful Travel Map of Jordan with Tourism Cares, which connects travellers with sustainable, community-based businesses and cultural experiences across the country.
“Tourism Cares helped us identify social enterprises that we plotted on a map where they mirrored a lot of the different archeological sites,” she explained.
One of the projects on the map is Beit Khairat Souf, a social enterprise that empowers women in the village of Souf through its restaurant and other initiatives.
The venture is located near Jerash, one of the best-preserved ancient Roman-Greco cities in the world.
“When that money stays in the local community, it becomes really a force for good,” she told Travel Courier. “They were able to open a daycare so the women in the community can leave their babies and go to work and recently, because of tourism dollars, they were able to open an after school care so that parents don’t have to be worried about their kids when they get back from school. That’s just a simple example of one of many enterprises that we have in the country.”
The project is also supported by G Adventures’ non-profit, the Planeterra Foundation.
“When you connect with the locals, you look people in the eye and your life changes and their life changes and that is what tourism is about for us, it’s in our DNA,” she added. “Our journey in sustainability starts with community tourism.”
Notably, the tourism board only aligns with tour operators and travel advisors who include stops on the map on their itineraries as a means to grow tourism in a more sustainable way.
“That’s our sustainability story and we really try to work from behind, which means that any travel advisors or tour operator that wants to work with us, we will not work with you unless you put a community tourism experience or Meaningful Tourism experience in your itinerary so that we can help drive travellers to these places so they can connect locally.”
One of the travel advisors on hand for GX Jordan was Kathy Hannah, a home-based consultant with Roblin Travel and Cruise in Chilliwack, B.C., who told Travel Courier that the journey was loaded with highlights from floating in the Dead Sea to experiencing Petra by day and night.
“I really want to promote this destination not only for everything we’ve experienced but to help the communities with their travel industry,” Hannah said. “It’s heartbreaking how low tourism is here right now. Everyone has different comfort levels, but I really want to encourage people to try it especially now when there are so few people here it’s a great time to tour.”
Another Canadian agent who recently visited was Laura Leys, an Edmonton, AB-based advisor with Fareconnect.
“Jordan has long been on my bucket list, and while there can be hesitation around safety, I trusted that if GX was operating here, I would be safe. And that has been proven true – this country is welcoming, vibrant, and full of life,” she shared. “It’s absolutely breathtaking, stunning, magical, and unlike anywhere else in the world. I’m hopeful that by sharing my experiences here on social media, I can help showcase the beauty of Jordan and encourage more travellers to visit. This is a country that deserves to be on everyone’s list.”
Meanwhile, Amanda Morrison, a senior travel agent with South Travel Inc. based in Calgary, AB, learned firsthand from vendors in Petra how difficult the last few years have been.
“At Petra I spoke with one of the vendors and he said that the last few years have been really tough. They were only starting to recover their business after Covid when the conflict started in Israel/Gaza and tourists stopped coming. With no tourists they have no one to buy the souvenirs. He was very excited to hear that all the people wearing the GX t-shirts were travel agents, and that we were learning about his country to send our clients to Jordan,” she said. “[During the trip] I never felt unsafe and the locals were very welcoming. You never hear about Jordan in the news, though you hear a lot about its neighbours. I am looking forward to sharing with my clients about my trip and expelling the myth that it isn’t safe.”
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