Congratulations on the two year anniversary of the Jordan Tourism Board. Could you give us an overview of the history and main functions of JTB?
JTB was launched in March 1998, and I was actually brought here in March 1996 to establish a public-private sector partnership, which had never existed in Jordan, so it took time, lobbying through the political corridors, and I was driven out of many offices at a period in time, but I was able to get the message heard that the Jordan Tourism Board should be a public-private sector partnership, and it should be private sector driven. That is the main issue. There should be public sector involvement, both in funding and in participation, because we are talking about promoting the country, but that is the extent of it.
In the Board of Directors there are thirteen members, and strictly nine are private sector, the Minister is another member along with a second government official, and there are two members from Royal Jordanian, which will soon be privatised, I hope.
When we were established we started with a small bidget. We are really a small baby in between two giants; Israel and Egypt. They are really very well established, very well promoted and funded. With the funds that we have we thought we really had to think about a cost-effective way of relaying our message. And we really have a good message to relay: we have a diversified product, we are accessible, we are safe, we are hospitable, we have modern facilities. This kind of message has to be relayed cost-effectively, we cannot use campaigns and we cannot depend on the media for a few years. So we have outsourced, and we now have eight representations working for us across the world. They are marketing and PR firms, working for us on agreed upon terms of reference. They cover both sides of the story - on one side they work with the media to create awareness, and on the other side they work to train the trade, meaning the tour operators, the front desk employees, the travel agents... So we have a comprehensive, compounded program whereby when a tourist visits an outlet, the travel agent should be able to provide a pamphlet as well as information about Jordan, instead of giving him a catalogue from another country because he doesn't know anything about Jordan. This is an interactive program.
We also have a JTB dedicated line for the public and another for trade, so if anyone needs information they will receive it. This is a good way of doing things, and now others are looking at us as a model because they have realized that this is a more effective way of doing things.
We also attend around 16 to 17 international trade fairs per year, we run at least one workshop in each of these generating markets, where we bring the private sector and go to London, for example, and we brief about 20 to 25 people who do not know our destination yet. So this is happening on a regular basis. We are receiving press groups from all over the world, at least once a week, so some of our people are almost acting like tour operators and helping them with airline tickets, hotel reservations, guiding... This is what we call the earned media, versus the advertised media. If we receive someone from Forbes magazine, for example, that can write two pages on Jordan, it is much better than me putting in an Ad, because if he enjoys the country he can relate it to his readers better than an Ad ever could.
So this is the direction in which we are moving.
You mentioned the private-public partnership, and cooperative funding. What is the funding right now for JTB?
Funding right now is being on a ratio of 80% from the government, and 20% from the private sector. This is quite normal for the first years of operation, and most tourism boards have a long-term ten year program to reach a balance where the partnership and private both contribute 50% of the budget. It is not easy for the private sector to contribute, and mostly hotels are participating, and they have realized that the best way to bring business is to market the country. Our total budget is presently around USD 6.5 million.
Your strategy is quite focused. In which countries are you most active?
We are focused on three regions, actually. North America, Western Europe, and the Arabian Gulf. With the budget we have, these are the areas we should be focused on before extending to other areas. You cannot start something in new areas without establishing a core program in specific markets. The second step is to start a consumer campaign, because we will have the base, accessibility and contacts. At that point it will be justifiable to open new markets.
The Jordan Hotel Association recently sent a memorandum to the Prime Minister asking him to revive the tourism sector. Is there presently a decline of tourism in Jordan?
I believe tourism is increasing at the moment, because I think enough awareness has been created among the government levels that tourism is the driving force of the economy now and that much attention should be given to the several segments of this sector, from promotion to site development. That the hotel association was worried for some time because they had an oversupply situation. Suddenly we had about 5000 rooms opening in the country in a period of two to three years, and this is bound to create an oversupply situation. I don't think we should worry as long as we have a vision and a long-term plan. We set the standards here, and we believe that whoever is efficient will stay, and whoever is not efficient will not stay. All the money that was poured into hotel construction was private money, and one can assume that private sector money is supposed to be an intelligent investment, and that investors have done their homework and feasibility studies.
Yes there is an oversupply situation, but 1999 was much better than 1998, and this year we are expecting an even better growth. We are feeling the difference, and we also hope the government will take notice of what is going on because it is good for the country. Promotion is the name of the game, and what we need to do now is promote.
Is the infrastructure for Jordan ready though?
Yes, if you are talking about facilities. There are some things that have to be done regarding the archaeological sites and museums. I cannot say that we are definitely ready yet, but most things are accessible and easy to reach. | My problem could actually be the seat capacity in airlines. The number of seats that are available to come to Jordan are not enough to carry the people that are requesting to come to Jordan at the moment. So we have started to look at charters, we have set an open sky policy for charters, we are encouraging other airlines to increase weekly and daily trips to Jordan, and we are waiting for the day that an American airline will come to Jordan because we feel that it is very important for our North American market.
My job is to create demand, and I think others will follow.
If we look at this new growth in tourism, at the same time you are competing with Israel and Egypt...
It depends which way you are looking at it. In areas like North America and the Far East we are not competing, we are complementing each other. In areas like Europe, yes we are competing. You see, we believe that long-haul travellers, from Canada or the United States, will come on a regional trip rather than a country-specific trip. They come here to visit Israel, Jordan and Egypt. Our duty here is to increase awareness so that we have an equal share in their visit. In Europe we believe that we can establish ourselves as a single destination.
Where do you have representative offices?
In the U.K., France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands. So we are very well spread out in Western Europe. We have just recently established the Benelux office which will cover Belgium and the Netherlands. I feel that there is lots of potential in Scandinavia, but there are no direct airlines, so it is still premature to be there now but it is in our plans to be there two years from now. We also have to be in Latin America and the Far East. These are the regions we have to be present in, depending on our budget of course.
What makes Jordan special?
If we are talking about history and archaeology, we are ten thousand years old. People and civilizations have been coming here for thousands of years, and what they have left us is over a hundred thousand registered archaeological sites, which truly makes us an open air museum. This in terms of history and archaeologicy.
We have natural wonders here. We have the Red Sea, the Dead Sea, the desert of Wadi Rhum, the six natural reserves, so there is a natural dimension.
What is also becoming very important is the spiritual dimension. We used to be called the gateway to the Holy Land, but actually you can found out that there are maybe seventy or eighty sites in Jordan mentioned in the Old and New Testaments. This makes us a holy land on our own. We have two or three of the main, important sites, like Mount Nebo, where Moses stood for the last time of his life. We have also recently discovered the place of baptism of Jesus Christ, and there is the Motower where John the Baptist lost his head, Kadara in the north where Jesus performed a miracle... There are a lot of stories from the Old Testament which took place in Jordan, such as the King's highway. So we are very well placed for people who are looking for that spritual dimension.
What these sites can offer in terms of soft adventure or hard adventure or camping, we are talking about a diversifies product.
Safety is also an important factor. Since the establishment of Jordan, not one tourist have ever complained of being harassed, thanks to God.
The hospitality is unique, and really our people are very hospitable. Added to this are ultra-modern facilities - most of the international five star chains are in Jordan or coming to Jordan. We also offer a cuisine which is not known to the outside world.
In a package, this is what we are offering the world. It is a diversity of everything. It is what we call the modern land of contrasts.
In keeping with the spiritual aspect of tourism, are you preparing anything for the Pope's visit this month? Is there a marketing aspect to this event?
Yes, of course. We have been promoting it for the last few months, sending press releases and video announcements. We are very excited because for us the visit to the baptism site is very important.
As you mentioned, the Jordan Tourism Board is still a young baby. So if we look into the future, ten years from now, where do you see the Jordan Tourism Board?
I think it will become more important than the Ministry of Tourism, and have more jurisdiction in the promotion of tourism. Eventually, it will assume many more duties, because this is the only forum in which the public and the private sector are meeting and discussing, so why not, in a few years, use this Board for hotel and restaurant classification, for example. It is going to grow in power and influence.
Why did it take so long to establish the Jordan Tourism Board, in comparison with other countries which have had tourism boards for many years?
It needed the will to do it. In the past we had neither the will or the time to establish a tourism board. That is why there was nobody interested in participating at the beginning, and I had to struggle for two years. The private sector was not interested; they thought: "Why should I contribute to something which is going to be governed and manipulated by the Minister of Tourism?". That is what they thought about the public sector. But I said no, if it is fair and working well, you will be part of the decision making process. You see, it is the only board of its kind in the region; Israel has the Ministry of Tourism doing the marketing, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria as well. I was actually called upon two times for the World Tourism to do a case study of JTB, to show how this could function in a developing country, so it is really a case study.
What would be your final message to our readers?
Whatever your interests are, when you are deciding on your travels, I think this country is the answer to your desires. History, nature, religion, people... there are many things to be experienced. Our motto is that Jordan is more than a country, it is a feeling! |
Jordan Tourist Board