A Jordanian Classic

The Jordanian Royal Family’s love of classic cars and racing has been well documented, so it comes as no surprise that this October sees the return of the Jewel that is Jordan – a spectacular classic car rally set against the stunning desert scenery of Jordan.

There are many ways to explore this Middle Eastern gem, but few can be as indulgent and enjoyable as cruising to the Dead Sea – the lowest point on earth – in the comfort of a 1961 Mercedes Benz 300SL, or even a 1933 Lagonda M45 BMW once owned by HM King Abdullah II.

From 14 to 27 October, 2008, this year’s invitation only event, organised by entrepreneur Jonathon Lyons and supported by the Classic Car Committee of the Royal Automobile Club of Jordan, and the Jordan Tourism Board, will see 25 classic and vintage cars and participants from as far a field as Great Britain, Northern Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Holland, South Africa, India, USA and Canada, as well as from Jordan, assembled and ready for departure in the Red Sea port-city of Aqaba.

[... read more about this event]

Here’s just one place that can show you how to make it happen …

… read more about Dive Aqaba – Red Sea – Jordan

Big in Jordan: How to reenact Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, is a post by Matthew Firestone linking up the ancient World of the Nebateans at Petra with Hollywood pop culture in this snappy little snippet:
With the world premiere of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull scheduled for May 22, 2008, it’s no surprise that the internet is buzzing these days with Indy-related travel themes …

… one of the newly minted New Seven Wonders of the World, namely the ancient city of Petra, happens to be the location of the Holy Grail in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade …

… In the climax of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the Joneses, Sallah, and Brody race across the world to reach the temple housing the Holy Grail, which is located in the Canyon of the Crescent Moon in Hatay near İskenderun.

Interested in reenacting one of the greatest moments in cinema history? Go grab your trusty bull whip and keep on reading Mr.Firestone’s excellent article. Just remember, I’m the guy who this past November spared no expense nor YouTube bandwidth to show you “The Petra Treasury Indiana Jones didn’t show you!”

Speaking of adventures, over at Jubilada Fashionista, said blogger armed only guide books and the internet made all their reservations and other travel arrangements own with relative ease; despite competing for rooms with visitors attending a world class auto race event and/or a nursing conference near the Dead Sea. Along with this factoid, Jubilada writes towards the end of an extensive and well-written review of his Jordanian journey:

In conclusion, Jordan is a very good trip and easy to go independently . I understand why most high end tour companies tagged it on to their trips to Egypt. The Jordanians are very well schooled about being nice to tourists. I do think they have to work on the transportation systems in this small country especially for tourists. I did read that they were working on a railway but it keeps getting stalled.

Jordan is also very safe and they love America (not George). It was a pleasure to see how different it is from what we constantly hear about Middle East chaos. You do not need guides as your book will explain all the sites for you.

Facts :

1. Blackberries do work here
2. All current is 220 but some plugs are European and some English
3. Lots of Atms and they still take our dollars
4. Hot book for foreigners “Married to a Bedouin”
5. Watch Lawrence of Arabia and Indiana Jones DVDs before you go
6. Read the Jordan Times the local English newspaper on line www.jordantimes.com to see what’s doing.
7. Check Jett buses to see their schedule and then work around it.
8. The tour books say that the luxury hotels have buses to take you to your next destination….not true

Prepare to be stunned – or so writes a TravelPod blogger from Wadi Musa, Jordan who also had a great experience arranging their own travel explaining:

Our Taxi driver turned out to be a gem. He spent 7 hours driving us from Amman to Petra along the Kings highway. He stopped at all the points of interest and let us take photos. This land is full of history (as we anticipate Israel will be). Characters from the old testament walked this land. We were in awe.

Meanwhile a “Request for Dates and Info on Jerash Festival in 2008” on the Lonely Planet forums is returned with this response:

For the third time in over 27 years, the world-renowned Jerash Festival will be largely absent from the Kingdom’s cultural activities season, which will kick off in July, to come back in 2009 in a new shape, Culture Minister Nancy Bakir said on Thursday.

Bummer! That said, don’t forget, alternate events are easy to find at our BlogJordan Calendar of Jordanian Events page and/or our “This Week in Jordan” category.

Speaking of staying on schedule, as Scott on Safari ‘traveling through Africa 2008′ he takes a stop at one of my favorite cities on the entire planet, Aqaba, opining:

The rooms were very nice, it was very luxurious after coming from Egypt. We went for a walk to find at ATM to get some JD since all I had was 6 JD. Then we walked to a nearby café, Tche Tche Café, for dinner. The food was great and came out nice and warm; a very nice change. Jordan seems to be a lot cleaner and more organised than Egypt.

Of course Scott goes on to describe an encounter with Saladin’s revenge while ‘Journeying Jordan.’

Still, better that than an uncommonly rare but none-the-less unfortunate and fatal crash of a Jordan tour bus traveling from Jerash to Irbid.

Finally, Zawya is reporting that “Visitors on package tours [of Jordan] rise by 48.4% in first quarter” citing:

Tourist traffic to the [Hashemite] Kingdom continued to grow during the first quarter of this year, with visitors on package tours rising by 48.4 per cent compared to the same period of last year.

Official figures released by the [Jordanian] Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities yesterday revealed that some 101,311 tourists on package tours visited the country between January and March compared to 68,279 in the same period of 2007.

According to the figures, their average length of stay also increased by around 7.3 per cent to 4.4 nights during the first quarter of this year compared to 4.1 last year.

Here is a link to the English rendering of the 1st Quarter OTA report entitled “Tourism Statistical Bulletin JAN – MARCH 2008 Volume 4 – Edition 1.

This last report proving once again what I’ve been saying since November:

“Why spend $2000 for a week of manufactured fun Magic Kingdom when you can experience the journey of a lifetime in the Hashemite Kingdom?”

Secretary-General of the Ministry of Tourism Mr. Farouq Al Hadidi, JSTTA Chairman Haider Ziyadat and top travel agents such as former Tourism Minister Munir Nassar attended the ceremony and paid tribute to Kawar who helped create a vibrant tourism sector, characterized by well-built infrastructure that today contributes around 14 percent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product and employees 33,000 people. MrKawar told the gathering:

“I am very touched by you all for this honoring, … We have come along way in establishing a good, prosperous and dependable tourism industry in the Kingdom, and credit must go to you all for working hard to bring tourists from all over the world to Jordan, a place of great culture, religions and where history’s civilization had passed through, …”

Mr Kawar also praised the role of His Majesty King Abdullah for his encouragement and belief in creating a strong tourism industry that would image Jordan to the world as a country with a great history and were cultures and businesses can meet to create a fusion for the benefit of mankind.

Petra Tours was established in 1965, at a time when there was no more than a handful of tour operators in Amman, but the then energeticKawar believed he would contribute in building a tourism industry that would build bridges among people with different cultures who would visit the Kingdom, and vice-versa enable Jordanian to travel abroad.

Little did he know that decades latter the Jordanian tourism industry would boomerang into a multi-million affair and possibly billions, with huge tourism infrastructure being built all over the country. Indeed, investments jumped to JD 1.552 billion in tourism projects between 1996 and 2006.

Petra Tours portion of these developments are not inconsiderable since as well as tourism providers they had become hotel investors in prime touristic locations such as the Dead Sea, Petra, and Aqaba.

It is these traits that were recognized when the JSTTA honored Nasser Kawar for his services to tourism.

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