Jordan tourism officials are exhibiting at The Trade Show – Travel Retail And Destination Expo in Orlando, Florida targeting the US market. This will give the tourism board a great opportunity to educate travel executives as well as the travel media about Jordan and its tourism product as a travel destination.

Jordan’s Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, H.E. Munir Nassar is also attending The Trade Show and will be a keynote speaker for the first annual international National Tourism Organizations (NTO) forum. The event, which brings together top executives, will discuss issues and developments facing destinations today. The forum will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 12 and will address the specific needs of NTOs and the issues concerning working with tour operators, media and travel agents in today’s world.

The time has come for destinations to work together in our industry. We are a powerful force that sustain trade shows and travel events and by working together we will be able to get stronger for the benefit of the industry at large. This is an opportunity for us to share information on activities, mutual goals and common vision. said Munir Nassar, Jordan’s Minister of Tourism.

This year, Jordan continued to witness a healthy flow of tourism with an increase of 42 % from the North American market in the first six months of this year. The overall visitor arrivals rose at a growth rate of 8.2% with 3.39 million tourists and revenues generated by the industry increased by 8.4% to $844 million. Tourism contributes more than US$800 million to Jordan’s economy and accounts for about 10 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP).

We have witnessed an increase of inquiries over the past year from new travel agents who want to sell Jordan and others who have who would like new information on what we have to offer, said Malia Asfour, director of the Jordan Tourism Board, North America (JTBNA). The interest we have had in the “Destination Specialist” course has been a good sign for us. We are looking forward to personally connect with these agents at THETRADESHOW and I have no doubt that they will begin featuring Jordan soon if they aren’t already, Asfour said.