At least the picture, well several pictures we read on the blog Journey of my Life whose post ‘Day 1 – Amman, Jordan: 10 April 2008, Thursday‘ included a morning tour of the:

1. Hill of the Citadel
2. Temple of Hercules
3. National Archaeological Museum of Jordan
4. The Roman Amphitheater in Amman
5. A tour of the city of Amman

All before heading out to Petra by way of the famous Karak castle via a King’s highway the authoress describes as:

After that we headed for lunch but first we have to pass the King’s Highway which was one of the most amazing scenery I have ever seen. It was just absolutely breathtaking and beautiful. Very similar to Grand Canyon in Las Vegas, USA.

It does sound like the new museum is yet to be opened as the writer describes her own archaeological find:

This small museum houses an excellent collection of antiquities ranging from prehistoric times to the 15th century. There is an exhibit of the Dead Sea Scrolls, a copy of the Mesha Stele and four rare Iron Age sarcophagi.

Still, not bad for the first day … and yet another great description of all there is to see and do just about any and everywhere in Jordan.

I definately will be checking back in on this blog to see how the rest of the story goes.

“There are neighborhood mosques everywhere in Amman. That shouldn’t surprise anyone. Many of them are striking and quite beautiful. But there are also some cool churches. Here are some steeples with the Amman cityscape in the background. I found these towards the top of Jebel Ashrafiyeh within blocks of each other and also the Abu Darwish Mosque. I think these speak for themselves.” – Brian, Pilgrim Without a Shrine blog

I remember my 2004 trip to Amman, that after a tour of the King Abdullah I Mosque I spotted an Byzantine-fashioned cross adorning the building across the street.

Being raised Greek Orthodox I grabbed Chuck Holton and made a bee line across the street. It was indeed a Coptic Orthodox Church, its pews mostly filled with individuals of Egyptian descent – all engaged in worship during a presentation/practice of the divine liturgy.

Anyway, Brian’s post on Steeples in Amman reminded of that day – and of the diversity and respect this mostly Muslim country holds towards natural born Christians in Jordan.

I only wish I had more time to take more pictures. That said, it appears Brian McMorrow (not the same Brian as the blog post) has already done just that over on his photo gallery pages.

I have done many crazy things – but I would have to rate swimming in the dead sea as one of my highlights … I have seen on TV when I was a kid, people reading books as they float in the Dead Sea … but its crazy, you float so high in the water that one can easily sit there and read a book. – Scott Ragsdale, naseba CEO blog

What a great quote as reminded me of my own YouTube enhanced post entitled “Dean takes a dive in the dead sea that ‘rocks’” – where like the TV shows Scott Ragsdale describes – I take a ‘Nestea-like Plunge’ into the saline-saturated body of baby-oil-like brine known as the Dead Sea.

Only in my case with a 25 pound rock on my belly.

Even better, Mr. Ragsdale’s blog provides us with an easy-to-read and enjoy 1 post summary of all there is to see and do in Jordan as a tangent tour during a business trip to Dubai …

… as well as some interesting personal insights and experiences as an American traveling in the Middle East, including this one-of-a-kind, once-in-a-lifetime snippet:

When I came back to the hotel, I was standing in the elevator alone and just when the elevator doors are about to close … a rush of people came running up and opened the door just as they were closing -pushing a man along with them, and get in the elevator with me … suddenly I look up and see someone that I have recently, seen on TV very often, Al-Maliki, the Prime Minister of Iraq and 5 of his secret service people all who were obviously Americans … are now standing directly in front of me in the elevator.

That and along with some descriptions of wondrous sites like Petra and delicious dinners in Amman, Scott offers some intriguing political insights worth reading:

Before my plane left the next afternoon – I walked all around Amman again. I went into the empty back streets — as well as visited two crowded markets. Absolutely brilliant experience– but for me, what is most remarkable, after all the problems that America’s war on Iraq has caused this country and its people — not one single person was rude nor aggressive to me.

So if you got a moment or three, check out Ragsdale’s post entitled ‘Swimming in the Dead Sea’ as it is quite a bit more than just your typical touristy “lookie at me on a camel” post.

I’m so jealous. They get to spend a few days in a city in which I’ve only been afforded a few hours.

Only 30 miles south of Amman, Madaba’s history dates back at least 3500 years, and perhaps into the Neolithic period. Madaba, which was known in the Bible as the Moabite town of Medaba, is mentioned in the Old Testament account of Moses and the Exodus (Numbers 21:30).

King David is also mentioned near this location in I Chronicles 19:7 as this where he vanquished an Ammonite and Aramean coalition.

Today, Madaba is most famous for its Byzantine and Umayyad mosaics, the most notable being that which adorns the floor of the Church of St. George in the middle of town. The church is open to the public every day 08:30-18:00, except for Friday and Sunday when it is open 10:30-18:00 (don’t forget to stop by a small wooden donation box to help out the poor and needy).

This Mosaic Map of Palestine represents the Holy Land and its surrounding regions. Clearly visible on the map are al-Quds (Jerusalem) and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, Nablus, al-Khalil (Hebron), Ariha (Jericho), Egypt and the Nile River, Turkey and Lebanon.

The mosaic was made around 560 CE, originally composed of over 2.3 million pieces, and measured a staggering 25 by 5 meters. It is thought that 11,500 man-hours would have been required to lay the entire mosaic.

And while I’m guessing that Gary and Joan will likely blog next from Petra and Aqaba as they continue to journey towards South Africa, I should probably get busying getting online the many photos I have of the famous roped-off mosaic at the aforementioned Greek Orthodox church – some of which were taken from directly overhead as I extended a camera over it via an omni-pod.

As the authoress opines:

A lot of times people ask me out of all my travels what place did I like the most? What was the most impressive? Where would I return? Where do I recommend? All those typical honeymoon spots have their place…and really if you haven’t been you should go, but to tell you the truth none of them have been my favorite. So what’s my top pick? Are you ready? … It’s Jordan … Yep … Jordan.

Amen sister, preach it!

In fact, she goes on to enumerate 8 excellent reasons why you should consider a trip to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan over Niagra Falls or DollyWood, including:

1. The Dead Sea
2. Wadi Rum
3. Petra
4. Aqaba
5. Cause You Like Movies
6. Cause you like History or you like Religion
7. Cause it’s easy
8. Cause you shouldn’t be afraid

I can think of a few more, but I think ‘Miss Capitol Hill’ hits most of the pertinent nails on the head, driving in points I’ve made on this blog before.

But don’t take my word for it, read her explanations of her 7 pillars of wisdom (plus one) entitled “Honeymooning Outside of the Box” to see yet another voice encouraging you to experience the journey that is Jordan – well that and she’s got some neat pictures posted.

Heck, if nothing else, it sure beats slummin’ about Rockville!

Jordan’s tourism sector is a $2.3 billion industry and makes around 14.5 percent of the country’s GDP, but is set to increase higher as more plush hotels and better infrastructure is put in place. This is at least the vision as outlined by the country’s five-year National Tourism Strategy which is set to end in 2010.

It is with this in mind the Jordan Travel Mart (JTM) was held at the Dead Sea’s high-tech King Hussein Ben Talal Convention Center, 10-12 February, that has proved a unique venue of bringing Jordanian tourism professionals and travel operators from the USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina for the event.

According to organizers, the Jordan Tourism Board, North America, the three-day venue is an important event to bolster the Kingdom’s tourism industry by getting travel practitioners from both sides of the Atlantic to meet at the Dead Sea, to discuss and exchange point of views about the best ways of bringing tourists from the Americas to enjoy the Kingdom’s top tourism potentials that include historical, cultural, spiritual, adventure and eco-tourism as well as MICE [Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events] and desert delights and of sleeping in tents.

It was somewhat of an innovation for the local tourist industry as around 250 delegates—owners, managers, sales representatives, event producers, hoteliers, transport companies, travel associations—from both Jordan and the Americas met in separate 25-minute pre-scheduled appointments with colleagues which for they most part they never met in their lives and hammered out travel and tourism packages which American, Brazilian, Canadian and Mexican tourism specialists promised to take home and sell to their clients, and which they were sure would increase the travel traffic flow between Jordan and across the Atlantic.

The JTM is the brainchild of the Jordan Tourism Board in Amman, Jordan Tourism Board, North America and executed by the William H. Coleman, a Florida-based management consultancy, displaying a new force of cooperation through private-public sector management aimed at global growth and may even be termed as just one of the new theories of economic development along the community development and “green tourism” Jordan is also stressing.

These concepts came up in the Dead Sea travel mart that had a necessarily strict formal style, and conducted in a business-to-business format which everyone in the booth-designed floor hailed as very productive and animated between American “buyers” and Jordanian “sellers” were avid information was exchanged from both sides.

Tourism sellers like Petra Tours as well as others interesting in boosting inbound tourism to the Kingdom interacted with diligence and excitement with many of the American buyers, saying this is were business is being made and deals struck.

“This is the kind of meets that we require in Jordan to cement our businesses and build up traffic from the Americas to Jordan, says Awni Kawar, General Manager of Petra Tours and Chairman of the Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association.

However, the approach may have been a little different, as one seller said the buyers wanted details like costs of packages, whereas we wanted to talk about our products, but arrangements of follow-up have been made and as expected in such travel marts, and were different cultures would inevitably get in the way, complaints were sited.

One buyer from Canada, said while he had enjoyed the sightseeing tremendously, as he was taken on a pre-JTM tour of Jordan’s south, he said, it was “somewhat hectic” and a “more leisurely pace was required”. The same goes he said for the pre-scheduled appointments which he said made you feel like as tripping from one booth to another and needing to gulp your breath!

However, one of the organizers said the point about the strict business schedule was to allow buyers to see as much of the suppliers as possible to generate the required tourism business between Jordan and the countries across the Atlantic which is why everybody is here for. From an onlooker point of view, it gave a sobering scene to the floor, with a ticking clock scenario.

Overall and judging from the level of interaction the organizers were very pleased and said both “sellers” and “buyers” were actually getting in tune with the long-list of business appointments they had in front of them. Also, organizers hoped this first travel mart in Jordan would become a yearly event that would allow American buyers to explore the Jordanian market fully, which a number of whom hadn’t realized of its huge potential.

Words like “incredible”, and “warm” were frequently heard by attendees like Mexican Gray Line General Director Jorge Mejia while people like Kenneth Luzietti of The Travel Society in Denver said he came here amongst other things to explore the Religious/Faith based market which there is a growing demand for in the United States and which this country has.

Kevin Wright, a religious travel expert came especially from the United States for the JTM to highlight the importance of religious travel in the world as an $18 billion global industry with $10 billion of that in America alone, and that Jordanian operators must recognize this fact understanding that many religious sites, including the Baptism Site, are in the Kingdom.

The point was further stressed as well religious tourists were not only coming to faith-based sites but wanted and interested in adventure, historical, ecotourism and other sightseeing holidays which Jordan in abundance.

While some complaints were made about what was called as service issues and emphasized there should be more training of the local staff, who needed to be in ship-shaped condition to meet international tourists, especially those from the American markets, many of the incoming agents said Jordan is a great marketable product.

However, some doubted whether Jordan could be sold as a “stand alone” destination and that it would be better to offer it to their clients as part of a regional package with Egypt and Israel. They said since tourists were coming all the way from across the Atlantic, they felt sure they would like regional packages and greater variety.

Malia Asfour, director of the Tourism Board North America, felt sure the doubters will change their minds simply because of the diverse value of the tourism product in Jordan and she hoped will change their mind as they realize Jordan offers great wonders and experience whether in terms of genuine hospitality, exploring ancient cities and castle ruins, going on incredible eco-adventure activities, and soaking in mineral hot springs.

In between the B2B meetings and not to disturb the sellers and buyers business schedule, a full course of lectures, seminars, speeches, presentations and panel discussions were given by industry experts on the importance of tourism as a business and development agent. These included a presentation by a Jordanian tour guide about his impressions of the touristic value of the country, on adventure and eco-tourism, as well as a talk on the investments developments in Aqaba, on Royal Jordanian and cruise liner destinations as important holiday packages as given by Terry Dale, chief executive officer of Cruise Lines International Association.

Jordanians wanted to make sure that their hosts received the message that Jordan was open for global tourism. To make sure time is not spared some of these talks were given at breakfast and luncheons and sometimes evening dinners and not forgetting the mingling during after-dinner parties.

The first Jordan Travel Mart will certainly be remembered for its introduction to Jordan as a vibrant destination, many of whom already know about but many others will continue to remember long after they’ve gone home, to the USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina.

Thus the JTM could be seen as an effective marketing exercise in which businessmen from across the international travel and tourism industry mingled with one another to set new growth rates for development and cooperation, and raise the standards of the industry.

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Marwan Asmar is a media consultant/writer in Petra Tours. Be sure to visit his website at PetraTours.com.

Below are some additional links on the topic:

• AME Info – Jordan Travel Mart sets new business trends in tourism
• Jordan Travel Mart draws North and Latin American buyers – Travel Daily News
• Amman Press – Jordan Travel Mart promotes Kingdom’s attractions to Americas
• Jordan Travel Mart Draws Over 100 North and Latin American Buyers – PRWeb
• Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association – JITOA attends the first annual JTB Jordan Travelmart

Beautiful language, once you learn how to use the back of your throat and growl out some of the more difficult consonants. Best done before you eat crackers.

Saba’a AlKair! Time for some (really) strong coffee, a shower and then off to tour in and about Amman.

It runs until July 6, 2004. If you won’t get to go see the exhibit, you can still visit the website, which has some very cool panoramic pictures that will almost make you feel like you are visiting the rose-red city itself!

From the introduction of the book:

“One cannot do archaeological work in Jordan for long and have an interest in biblical studies without raising questions relative to the location of the biblical places and events that are so much part of the narratives, for example, of Genesis, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Josha, Judgest, 1 and 2 Chronicles, and the major prohets. And this interest is one that Christians, Jews and Muslims share. But is is not only the student of the Bible who wishes to know the identity of the sites that he/she is surveying or excavating.”

Great stuff, only it’s 295 pages long, too much to print out at 2:37 AM the day before we take off on our journey.