Jordan’s Tourism Strategy and Aspirations for the
Future
H.E. Issa Gammoh,
Secretary General, Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
Tourism is Jordan’s largest industry: first recipient of foreign direct investment, and
second contributor to foreign exchange. However, in 2003 growth was far below potential.
Jordan has
Iconic Attractions
Quality Accommodations
Established Reputation
Yet, Jordan’s tourism
Was severely underperforming
Operated within a weak institutional framework
Lacked capacity to compete effectively on the global arena
Lacked true partnership within industry
Suffered from being in a region with a stigmatized reputation
The Strategy was developed through a partnership between the government and the private
sector using a value chain approach. Competing interests enriched the process by challenging
everything.
First is first
Mobilized support from stakeholders for need of strategy
Developed a comprehensive approach
from vision to implementation
Created Strategy Steering Committee
Jordan Ministry
Tourism
of
Board
Tourism
Strategy Steering
Committee
Marketing &
Promotion
Strategy Steering
Committee Membership
Hotel Investors
Tour Operators
Airline & Tourist Board
Tourism Public Institutions
Product
Development
Human
Resources
Regulatory &
Institutional
Framework
Strategy Steering
Committee
USAID
Subject
Matter
Experts
Many challenges were faced along the way, and some persist.
Industry Challenges
The Group
Language Differences
Public Sector Challenges
Tourism was not a priority
sector
Economic Value of Tourism
TOTAL IMPACT=
Direct Impact
Direct recipients of
tourism expenditure on
goods and services
where tourists make
purchases
Hotels, Restaurants,
Transport, etc.
Indirect Impact
Induced Impact
Supplying inputs
required to support
tourism purchases
Food Products, Raw
Materials, Energy, Produce,
Banking, Insurance,
Advertising, etc.
As a result of direct and
indirect demand, income
generated gets spent
domestically
Household disposable
income gets spent and respent in successive rounds as
expenditure of one becomes
income of another.
Jordan’s Tourism Strategy
The Value Chain
Integrating International Benchmarks
COMPETITIVENESS-BASED NATIONAL TOURISM STRATEGY
National Tourism Strategy Pillars weaving in World Economic Forum Competitiveness Index
Marketing Pillar
Tourism Product Development Pillar
H R & Quality Assurance
WEF 5 - Prioritization of Travel & Tourism
WEF 6 - Air Transport Infrastructure
WEF 11 - Human Resources
(16, 5.5)
(60, 3.1)
(70, 4.9)
WEF 7 - Ground Transport Infrastructure
WEF 10 - Price Competitiveness
(65, 3.7)
WEF 4 - Health & Hygiene
(37, 5)
WEF # 8- Tourism Infrastructure (56, 3.8)
(58, 4.8)
WEF 13 - Natural Resources (87, 2.8)
WEF 14 - Cultural Resources (91, 1.8)
Enabling Environment Pillar
WEF 12 - Affinity for Travel & Tourism
WEF 9 - ICT Infrastructure
WEF 1 - Policy Rules & Regulation
(9, 6.1)
(65, 2.6)
(78, 4.1)
Tourism Awareness
WEF 2 - Environmental Sustainability
WEF 5 - Prioritization of Travel &
Tourism (16, 5.5)
Gender Integration
(38, 4.9)
WEF 3 - Safety & Security (15, 6)
Economic Benchmarks
1.
International visitor expenditures – export tourism foreign
earnings – expressed in JD’s
2.
Domestic visitor expenditures – expressed in JD’s
3.
Tourism balance of payments – tourism earnings less
expenditures by Jordanians travelling abroad
4.
Employment – jobs and job equivalents created in the
economy by tourism
5.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) attracted
6.
Taxation and other income to national treasury
Social Benchmarks
1.
Employment of Jordanians
2.
Employment of females
3.
Basic Levels of pay
4.
Distribution of tourism income within Jordan
5.
Support to traditional rural sectors – agriculture, crafts, food
production etc
6.
Community engagement in tourism
National Targets 2011-2015
•
Doubling tourism receipts to reach 4 Billion
•
Increase tourist expenditure
•
Increase domestic and international visitors
•
Creation of 25000 new jobs
•
Enhancement of enabling environment to empower
industry to create global competitive advantage
Strategic Objectives
•
Grow domestic and international visitor number sand
tourism receipts
•
Improve country access and expand quality and diversity
of authentic visitor experiences
•
Balance labor demand and supply and develop a
professional workforce
•
Raise industry competitiveness and business performance
To ensure the process of updating the strategy is most inclusive, all facets of the industry are
included.
45 Private organizations
7 Public Organizations
9 Months
57 Meetings