Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) is showcasing its “Kingdom of Time” brand and its diverse and authentic tourism offering at this year’s ITB Asia
We spoke to Nayef Al Fayez, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities of the Kingdom of Jordan, to find out the key messages the destination is putting forward at this year’s show.
Why this slogan ” Kingdom of Time”?
Jordan has always been the Kingdom of Time, home to more than 100,000 archaeological, religious and tourist sites. Think of world-famous Petra, Dead Sea and Wadi Rum. Jordan is indeed the world’s largest open-air museum, nurturing 10,000-year old stories and experiences. As we have been blessed with majestic landscapes, we chose to focus on intrepid travellers whose passion falls in line with the products we have to offer. But Jordan has something for diverse types of tourism, including history and heritage, sightseeing, trekking, adventure tourism, health tourism, sky gazing, marine activities, film tourism or faith tourism.
How would you describe Jordan to travellers from around the world?
Simply, it is the Kingdom of Time and you need all the time in the world to explore all of Jordan. You name what interests you and we have it: a dive in the warm waters of the Red Sea, star gazing in Wadi Rum or the Moon Valley, bird watching in Aqaba, a healing mud bath in the Dead Sea, having an indigenous meal with a Bedouin or a rural family, walking along the breathtaking Jordan Trail, shopping for hand-made mosaic artifacts in Madaba, or having a dip in the holy waters of the Baptism Site. We can have the world coming to us, and we guarantee wonderful memories for everyone.
How is the tourism industry in Jordan changing?
Tourism makes an important contribution to the Jordanian economy and there has been large investment in major projects such as Ayla & Saraya resorts in Aqaba, luxury hotels in Amman or wellness and eco-resorts in Ajloun and the Dead Sea. In recent years, niche tourism products have started to emerge, including faith, MICE or medical/wellness.
Any highlights for the upcoming year?
Tourism is Jordan’s “petrol” as we call it. The more we succeed in increasing its contribution to GDP, the better the chances are for the country to recover and survive the challenges that it encounters individually or as a member of the global community. Next year and the years to follow, the Tourism Ministry and JTB will become a hive of activity, making sure that no minute is wasted, as we pursue the goals of the 2021-2025 National Tourism Strategy. We will continue with the “Kingdom of Time” campaign, adjust plans according to global, regional and local developments, and carry out activities that would strengthen our brand and offer more incentives to attract more tourists.
Stand M31
Photo: Hot Air Balloon-Wadi Rum. © Jordan Tourism Board
Jordan Tourism Board at ITB Asia 2022
Jordan Tourism Board is attending ITB Asia 2022 together with six key actors from Jordan’s travel and tourism sector, targeting B2B meetings with hosted buyers and trade visitors in order to expand business in Asia after two years of disruption. And indeed recovery is happening fast: Jordan has witnessed an increase of 281.9% in visitors from Asia during September 2022, compared to the same month in 2021. The accumulative overnight visitors to Jordan from Asia between January and September 2022 was 118,565, compared to 31,517 visitors in 2021. This increase amounted to 276.2%, which reflects the strong recovery of tourism from Asia to Jordan. The same was true for overnight visitors to Jordan from all nationalities which reached 3,128,099 over the same period compared to 1,292,067 visitors in 2021. This 142.1% increase is a powerful prove that the Kingdom’s tourism industry has bounced back.
