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PM calls for individuality, quality in Kingdom's tourism product - Jordan

menafn.com

Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit on Sunday said uniqueness and quality of services should dominate the discussion on tourism sector development, highlighting that a high quality product would survive in the global tourism market.

"We should seek out individuality in our tourism product in terms of infrastructure and qualified and trained manpower, in addition to a high level of awareness of the significant role the sector plays in the country's economy and development," Bakhit said in his address at the opening of a workshop to discuss the current status of the sector and the challenges facing its projected growth.

During the one-day event, "Managing Tourism Growth," some 150 representatives of government and private sector tourism organisations discussed ways to prepare for and manage the anticipated growth of this sector, as well as identifying tools and mechanisms that can be used to meet these challenges.

The Kingdom's tourism sector, which is witnessing rapid growth, contributes to more than 11 per cent of the gross domestic product.

Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Osama Dabbas considers this growth both a goal and a result.

"As a goal, we seek to increase tourism to the Kingdom, which will result in economic benefits on both a national and an individual level," Dabbas said at the workshop, organised by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and USAID/Siyaha.

"Growth is also considered a result for what it brings in terms of infrastructure development and support services, which in turn contribute to increasing the competitiveness and attraction of the country's tourism product," he added.

Siyaha consultant, Matthew McNulty, who reviewed present challenges facing the Kingdom's tourism sector, said these challenges are nowadays customer- and market-driven and Jordan needs to provide global access and apply technologies in promoting its product at international markets.

"In order for Jordan to face future tourism challenges, it should adopt several compelling fundamentals; the government and the industry private sector must be locked in partnership as neither can succeed without the other," McNulty noted.

He added that the two partners should also co-create and complement a sustainable inclusive plan aimed at achieving a much higher level of growth.

The consultant said with the existing 70 tourism promotion boards worldwide, the Jordan Tourism Board should establish, search and colonise new markets and provide the tourism industry with the information and back up they need to improve decision making.

"Jordan needs and deserves a bigger vision of what it can achieve in term of its positioning in the global tourism economy. Jordan is not an ordinary country in terms of its tourism potentials, it is an extraordinary country," McNulty said.

Initiating the tourism sector with a ministry was a good forward-looking decision, however, it was flawed because the founding vision of what this industry can do in terms of economic, social and community development was seriously underestimated, he said.

That flaw, he explained, has impacted negatively on the priority afforded to the industry, which has already cost the Kingdom lost opportunity, lost growth and lost economic income.

The seminar included a panel discussion and several detailed sessions on infrastructure, human resources and marketing issues.

 Printable Version  | published Jul 02, 2007