Last week, His Majesty King Abdullah, accompanied by HRH Crown Prince Al
Hussein, visited the archaeological site at Umm Al-Jimal, in the Northern Badia
region. The visit clearly intends to promote tourism destinations less famous
than the iconic Petra and Wadi Rum.
اضافة اعلان
The King and the
Crown Prince also toured Umm Qais, Maan Castle, and Maan’s Old Souk these past
months, in the course of visiting local communities.
The tours help
bring into the spotlight destinations of high tourism value that need more
aggressive marketing, including among local spenders who know little about
these amazing places.
His Majesty’s
visits are bound to spur both Jordanians and foreigners to indulge in new
tourism experiences with different flavors. The Royal visits naturally
encourage tourism and local authorities to gear up efforts and finish
rehabilitation projects targeting these sites to render them more inviting to
tourists.
During the visit
to Umm Al-Jimal, “His Majesty was briefed by Tourism Minister Nayef Al-Fayez on
the site’s history and the restoration work carried out by the Department of
Antiquities in cooperation with Calvin University to equip the site to receive
visitors”.
Reinvigorating the tourism sector means jobs for hundreds of thousands of people, and new means of livelihood. This is extremely important in a country where the unemployment rate stands at more than 23 percent.
In addition, the
prominence given to the sites by the King’s tours helps promote them globally.
In the case of Umm Al-Jimal, “King Abdullah stressed the importance of further
developing (the site) to promote it as a potential World Heritage Site”.
Reinvigorating the
tourism sector means jobs for hundreds of thousands of people, and new means of
livelihood. This is extremely important in a country where the unemployment
rate stands at more than 23 percent.
Actually, the
ideas come mainly from the people themselves. In Umm Al-Jimal, the founders of
the “Hand by Hand Heritage Umm Al-Jimal” initiative, established in 2018 to
promote the site as a tourist destination, demonstrated this trend.
Presenting their
project to the King, they “spoke about the services and experiences offered,
including tours of the archaeological site and surrounding areas, offering
recommendations and community-based accommodation for tourists, and providing
training and awareness-raising to the local community”.
But above all, the
Royal visits to tourism sites illustrate the leadership’s hands-on approach to
the economic woes of the country, which have been exacerbated by two years of a
crippling pandemic, an international economic crisis, and turbulence with the Russian-Ukrainian
war.
The leadership is
aware that Jordan’s recovery hinges on holistic economic reforms, which are
already under way. They mainly include, along with tourism, the industrial,
energy, and agricultural sectors.
What makes tourism
a priority is that it is already a major contributor to GDP, and is showing
strong signs of recovery, while reforms in other sectors need time to pay off.
This is why
tourism authorities are in top gear in a drive to regain and surpass the
pre-pandemic figures, of 2019 exactly, when the tourism sector hit a historical
high, with an annual revenue of around $5.8 billion.
And that is why,
for now, it is about building on the good news of tourism recovery to offset
the economic setbacks, while working with a clear head to revive other
productive sectors.
After all, tourism
is our oil. We should all remember that, build on the Royal efforts, work hard,
and promote our country.
Khalid Dalal is a former advisor at the Royal Hashemite
Court, former director of media and communication at the Office of His Majesty
King Abdullah, and works currently as a senior advisor for media, strategic
communication, PR, international cooperation, and business development locally,
regionally and globally.
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