“This is a great event which we have regularly attended throughout the years, to bring a sense of dynamism to the tourist trade, and no doubt this year will be another auspicious business occasion,” adds Awni Kawar. We are looking forward to another great ATM 2011.

One of the most frustrating disadvantages to group travel is that when there are 20+ people traveling in a group, it means that there are 20+ egos, temper tantrums, ignorant outbursts, and selfish behavioral characteristics to take into consideration…

…There were those who were notoriously late for group gatherings, those who constantly made special requests … and also those who clearly needed a lesson (or many) on respecting all aspects of a foreign culture …

… In my opinion, the worst offenders were those who were ignorant enough to make certain assumptions about Egypt and Jordan, and especially the people of these countries … I guess my expectations were too high for some participants and they often reminded me of my inaccuracy.

If you’re like me, the above ‘Post-Vacation Thoughts‘ offered by Brett Mickelson beg the question “are any other similar acts of bloggery detailing the disadvantages of group travel in Jordan and in general?”

I’m glad I asked …

Dean 'negotiating' with some of his more 'emotional' travel mates in Jerash.

… funny photo aside, along with managing well-optimized egos are those members of a group whom grate on others. For example, in this kvetch-a-thon we read of some nerves rubbed somewhat raw:

Dinner time arriving, Faisel took us for an orientation walk of the town. Nerves growing thin, I wasn’t the only one wanting to bite the head off of one of the two “louder” members of our group …

Goodbyes MERCIFULLY done, the group went back up into the main town and found a “Mystic Pizza” (safe enough). A glare that possibly scorched her eyebrows later, one of the girls swapped me away from the louder member of the group who had been slowly plucking my every last remaining nerve…

Following one of the other Australians (who also confessed a desire to break every piece of furniture in the place), we made our way back to the hotel while trying to stay in close enough proximity to the girls so they wouldn’t be hassled.

Here’s another example from TravelBlog where a couple of younger tourists were grouped with mostly older ladies – the latter of from which a few could be classified as Olympic-class shoppers. Not a problem until the poor tour guide finds themselves engaged in ‘cat herding‘ before they can get everyone on the bus and go somewhere else.

At Madaba we first discovered that some members of our tour liked to shop. In particular two ladies called Patti and Allie. Patti and Allie had come on the trip with another friend

Caroline and these three ladies were exactly like the ladies from Ab Fab. Allie was Patsy, Caroline was Eddie and Patti was Saffy. We ended up having many good laughs with these ladies, but at this stage of the journey we were most dismayed to discover that Patti and Allie could spend in excess of 20 minutes shopping while the rest of us waited for them. It reminded me very much of my darling mother.

Of course, sometimes it’s not the other travelers, but the travel agency or tour guide that turns the group into a mob, as we read in this ‘tense’ account:

Our last day in Jordan was spent driving northward, with some stops, towards our overnight stay in the town called Madaba which was Moab in the bible. It was an overall tense day in our group. Khaleid was not happy with us that we questioned him to the agency and we were not happy with him that we had to do it in the first place. The tension mixed with the fact that the trip was winding down really made for a quiet day. I think that almost everyone was looking forward to wrapping up the trip or moving onward to their next destination. Despite all of this, I enjoyed the day.

Perhaps one solution is to go it alone with compatible friends, and a competent taxi driver.

Then there’s always the temptation of striking out on one’s own:

Not that life here is all that demanding or stressful: all I really do is Arabic; but being part of the group, along with all its little rules and requirements, can be a bit taxing and at times frustrating – like this past week: I had a little run-in with a lady from BYU who had come to evaluate the program here – it was like talking to a wall; but at least I think I made her feel uncomfortable. And so… the thought of striking out on my own again proved too tempting.

I just happened to have a pamphlet of Jerash and its Roman ruins at the house …

Though sometimes getting away from the group is more the fault of a careless tour guide than the intentions of the individual … especially when that individual is a female who stumbles into a male only area:

We walked down a staircase past a small group of men, and I followed Hilda through an archway before quickly realizing that I had just walked into a section of the complex that was restricted to women. I apologized to the two muhajabaat sitting there and backed out, to find that Waleed and our guide had disappeared, and that I was left alone with the group of strange men.

Another alternative is to trade one set of problems for another, traveling with family. Here’s one such blogger whom along with making it through Jordan with 25 family members – did so while feeding their Scrapping or Scrap book hobby.

Here is group shot of our tour group while in Egypt. There were a bunch of us. And what was really cool was that over 25 of us were FAMILY!! I love scrapping and reliving the memories of this trip. I’m so thankful to have experienced it–not just the tours and the history, but being with my familiy to experience it.

…Then we went to Jordan. It was really amusing seeing Jordan’s name everywhere. I totally got a kick out it!! He was so proud! These were taken at the airport. Joey wanted to pull Jordan’s bag..LOL..what a silly!

Of course, some times you’re group is just fine … it’s the other groups touring Jordan that may offer one or more interesting events, such as this nearly unfortunate incident detailed in Jordan Journals by someone whom forgot the ‘safety in numbers‘ rule:

When we approached the deck above the Jordan River and the Baptism font, our eyes were treated to the rather full body of a young woman clad in the briefest of white bikinis, thong and all! A group of women were to the side, in various stages of undress, having just climbed out of the river. And, the crowning glory, a woman of probably 55-60 years of age still in the water, clothed, or rather unclothed, in a soaking wet black negligee-style dress, which left nothing to the imagination.

The majority of our group were truly offended, particularly an Arab nun accompanied by younger relatives; and a couple of German ladies, one resident in Jordan, and one visiting. They verbally attacked our guide, who explained that this was a recent occurrence amongst Russian tourists, and when he had expressed his reservations on previous occasions, had been told by the “bathers” that to submerge themselves in the holy waters was part of their culture. The independent guide, i.e. not of the Baptism Site, said that the tourists were entitled to behave as they wished.

That last account reminds me of my first trip Jordan, when enjoying some ice cream at the adjoining Mövenpick Resort, we were beset first by a belly dancer, then a gaggle of drunk Russian women whom compelled us on stage to join them (at the risk of pulling our arms clean out of their sockets mind you).

Chuck Holton and Dean Peters boogie like its 1999

The next day, we spotted the same group solemly visiting the banks of the Baptismal site. That said, I found the time spent with my own group that day spiritually moving and motivating as expressed in my post “Walking in the steps of Jesus along the banks of Bethany Beyond the Jordan.”

Oh I could go on, just as I’m sure those who’ve traveled with me could do likewise. The point being, when it comes to travel mates and tour groups, the aphororism “your mileage may vary” most certainly applies.

Put another way via some recent Jordanian blog posts regarding human interaction, please take “No offense …” to the question “Are You a Highly Sensitive Person?” … as it is all part of the travel package.

“… while some hotels in Jordan have already raised their 2009 prices from 19 percent to 24.5 percent, a reasonable measure under the circumstances. However there are other hotel properties especially in the Dead Sea and Petra that belong to international chains, and have raised their rates by as much as 70 percent increasing to 100 percent in some cases.

Such hikes are not justified especially in view of the huge increase in occupancy, which increased by as much as 100 percent and 125 percent in many of the classified hotels in Amman, Wadi Musa, Aqaba and the Dead Sea in the first three months of 2008. This upward trend is expected to continue well into 2009 and beyond, according to the World Tourism Organization and the World Tourism and Travel Council.”

Considering that the tourism sector accounted for more than 13 percent, or $2.11 billion of Jordan’s gross domestic product 2007, losing shares to competitive destinations such as Egypt, Turkey, and even Syria could be as Munir Nassar asserts:

“… disastrous for Jordan’s national economy …

… that inbound tourism as an export industry generating hard currency from international visitors vital to the domestic economy will [also] be hurt.”

With a number of tour packages to Egypt and Turkey already selling at cheaper rates to similar Jordanian tour packages due to lower airfares, over-the-top increases in hotel prices are already generating some complaints from tour operators – recently when advised by the JITOA of the recent rate increases. So much so that Mr. Nassar points out along with said complaints:

“… major inbound tour operators, who account for up to 80 per cent of the tourism business …

are actively considering reducing the number of pages in their brochures dedicated to Jordan as a holiday destination, while still others are threatening to stop selling Jordan completely because they will cease to generate enough bookings to justify their marketing and administrative costs.”

This is in part due to to the pain inbound tour operators feel when forced to pay out-of-pocket for existing travel contracts due to some of the sudden price increases in hotel stays, as well as diesel fuel related rates imposed last February by the tourist transport companies.

And as Munir Nassar points out, it is not just inbound tour operators impacted by steep increases in hotel prices, but also a large number of Jordanians who directly or indirectly earn their living from inbound tourism – more so than any other economic activity in Jordan. This includes bus companies, restaurants, taxi drivers, souvenir shops, the 600+ licensed tour guides, and the 32,000 other individuals whom cumulatively have also contributed to the Hashemite Kingdom having already achieved its tourism receipts target three years sooner than planned; despite the overall slump in Arab and Gulf tourism as reported by ArabianBusiness.com.

As Mr. Nassar concludes:

Let us be very clear. We are not against hotels increasing their earnings. All we call for is a reasonable increase that will not inhibit growth in the number of visitors to Jordan. We also want to avoid being described as greedy and opportunistic.

A big shout-out to those folks already linking me up : Andrew Jones & Doc Searls. I’ll be on planes most today, tonight and into tomorrow, so please feel free to aggregate and/or bookmark this site .

I promise that if nothing else, the photos and YouTube will make up for the ‘content manglement‘ that passes for prose around here.

If you’re interested in a particular site, the blogJordan Wiki itinerary page should get the trick done. Click on the associated compass and you get marked-up Google maps (note to self: need to work on that intuitive usability thing a bit).
If you have any questions, comments or anything else you’d like to know or say, drop me a line or leave a comment.

I’d love to hear from you.

Now pardon me as I finish packing computers, camera gear, clothes and other stuff all in under 60″ and 50lb (don’t you think it should count count I’ve lost 12″ + 100lbs since the last trip?).