Jordan Times
Friday, March 23, 2007
Tourism ministry executive plan developed during retreat
AMMAN (JT) — Tourism officials recently held a
two-day executive retreat at the Dead Sea to develop an executive plan, which
aims to support the growth and development of the Kingdom’s tourism industry by
defining the leadership role that the Tourism Ministry will play within the
sector.
The event, organised and supported by the USAID/Jordan Tourism Development
Project (Siyaha), was designed to step up and fast-track the ministry’s efforts
to deliver on the goals set in the National Tourism Strategy (2004-2010).
Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Osama Dabbas, Ministry Secretary General
Farouk Hadidi, Department of Antiquities (DoA) Director General Fawwaz Khraysheh,
and Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) Director Mazen Homoud, as well as senior ministry
staff and other representatives from the JTB and DoA attended the event.
The ministry took the lead in examining its plans, resources and opportunities
with the intention of optimising the contribution to strategic success,
according to a Siyaha statement.
During the sessions, participants discussed areas of strength and weakness
within the ministry to determine how best to plan the way forward, as well as
identifying existing and possible opportunities that the ministry and the sector
can take advantage of, and threats that must be addressed.
Participants reviewed the ministry’s core areas of work and identified
priorities and new methodologies for adoption, which will lead to empowering the
competitiveness of the private sector and enhance the ministry’s own
capabilities.
The ministry management and staff also defined a new vision and mission that
refreshes their approach and aligns it with the National Tourism Strategy,
according to the statement.
The executive plan will be based on a number of main areas that were identified
— including championing the sector towards fulfilment of the national strategy’s
goals, expanding partnership with the private sector and all stakeholders,
ensuring sustainable development and master planning.
The main areas also encompassed the need for developing an institutional
framework for tourism and enhancing the ministry’s own capabilities to serve the
needs of the tourism industry, in addition to public and consumer protection and
supporting marketing efforts.
These identified areas were the basis upon which an action plan was developed
during the retreat, and once this is finalised, it will guide the ministry’s
work towards achieving its new vision and mission.
This will translate into a restructure of the ministry to reflect these new
directions, and capacity building programmes will be put in place to reinforce
these efforts, the statement said.
“This is an exceptional time of opportunity for tourism and for Jordan. I want
to ensure that the ministry, its associated agencies and the private sector are
working in an integrated and harmonious way to achieve success,” Dabbas said in
his closing address.
“This diagnosis (of the tourism industry and the ministry) is the first step to
defining the main and secondary goals for the industry in general and the
ministry in particular, which will help to develop an implementation plan with a
set timeframe and specific roles, and key performance indicators to measure
these, for all parties involved in implementation, with a focus on the ministry
and its related units,” he added.