Jordan Times
Thursday, July 6, 2006
Delegation concludes
10-day development mission in the United State
AMMAN (JT) — A tourism delegation has completed a 10-day tourism development
mission to the United States, which included participation in the US-Arab
Economic Forum held in Texas.
The forum featured leading policymakers from the United States and the Arab
world in addition to senior business leaders from the US and the Middle East
representing the tourism, IT, automotive, energy, trade and manufacturing,
investment banking and management consulting fields, according to a statement
released by the USAID Siyaha project.
“This conference has provided us with an excellent opportunity to network and
establish relationships that would benefit us in the future,” said Bassam Twal,
chairman of the newly established Madaba Tourism Development Association.
“We will transfer this knowledge to our work in developing Madaba as a
successful tourism destination,” he added.
In a plenary session entitled “Igniting a New Era of Collaboration: New Sources
of Competitiveness,” Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Munir Nassar discussed
the role tourism plays in Arab economies, and the power of tourism as a promoter
of peace and understanding through inter-cultural dialogue, the statement said.
Nassar discussed key elements necessary for economic growth based on tourism and
how tourism generates economic returns to countries and profits for
corporations.
The minister also delivered the keynote address on the last day of the forum in
a session entitled “Tourism: A Change Agent for Development.”
In his speech Nassar noted that tourism is one of the major attractors of
foreign investment in the region.
With tourism accounting for over 10 per cent of world employment and total
economic output in Jordan, Nassar said more needs to be done in terms of
promoting Arab and Jordanian tourism to US tourists and travel agents.
“These are expensive campaigns and it is a challenge to muster the required
funds” he noted.
During the 10-day visit, funded by Siyaha, Nassar also met with senior
executives from Continental Airlines, one of the largest US air carriers with
large US and international operations and provided them with an update on
Jordan’s growth in the tourism sector and briefed them on the National Tourism
Strategy and its growth targets as well as the country’s strategic location in
the region.
The three-year USAID Siyaha project supports the implementation of the National
Tourism Strategy and is currently working with the ministry and concerned
associations to develop tourism in Jordan and improve the effectiveness of the
private sector in this industry.