JITOA “Destination Management Certificate” Program offered to boost the expertise of Jordan Tourism Professionals
January 28, 2010
The Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association (JITOA) in cooperation with the International Institute of Tourism Studies at the George Washington University (GWU) and under the USAID / Jordan Tourism Development Project II, conducted special certification program for tourism professionals in Jordan for two weeks during January 2010, titled “Destination Management Certificate (DMC)” Program.
This program aims to increase the professionalism within the destination management industry in Jordan by establishing a level of knowledge and performance necessary for certification; recognizing and raising industry standards and practices; and maximizing the value of the products and services that certified destination management professionals can provide.
Destination Management courses are designed for tourism destination managers & marketers, hotel developers, tour operators, business owners, government officials and others concerned with enhancing the long-term sustainability and competitiveness of tourism destinations. Through the use of expert analysis, tools, best practices, benchmarks and case studies. Emphasis in this program would be placed on minimizing the negative impacts of tourism and preserving cultural and natural resources, while optimizing tourism’s overall contribution to economic development in host communities.
One of JITOA’s main pillars is Tourism Sector Human Resources Capacity Building, through providing professional training and certification programs. The importance of these programs revolves in supporting and developing company’s personnel, to help improve tourism services in Jordan, and raise the standards of services while enhancing the tourist experience.
The DMC course series will serve as a means to showcase the Tourism Training programs offered through JITOA as well as a forum to train potential trainers for future delivery of the GWU program in Jordan. Each student completing the courses will receive a certificate from GWU. Courses include six different topics; Tourism Destination Policy & Planning, Tourism Marketing and Branding, Ecotourism, protected Area and Community Development, E-Marketing and Internet Applications, Customer Service for Tourism Organizations, Community-based Tourism.
Mr. Nizar Al Adarbeh, JITOA CEO said “this program focuses on competitive positioning of Jordan as a major tourist destination and helps us in our commitment to raise sustainable development principles and practices of the Jordan Tourism Sector, and relatively optimizing tourism’s overall contribution to economic development”.
The course conducted by 4 professional trainers of the GWU; Dr. Donald Hawkins, Randall Durband, Dr. Philippe Duverger, and Dr. Crist Inman, and concluded on the 24th January 2010.
It’s worth mentioning that JITOA have had a very successful partnership with The George Washington University (GWU), and offered several professional certification programs during the past years, of which are the Event Management Program (EMP) Certificate and the DMC late 2004. Till today JITOA has shown a remarkable success through its diverse training courses for professional business skills development, such as, English for Tourism and Hotels and Business Writing skills and many more.
Niche Market Stands to Boost Jordan’s Tourism Industry
January 28, 2010
Amman, Jordan – The Kingdom of Jordan may be able to tap a wealth of cultural assets through “voluntourism”, according to tourism industry experts.
David Clemmons, an expert on the niche market and editor of the e-trade publication Voluntourist, said the concept caters to those who would like to leave a lasting impact on the community they visit.
“It wasn’t until voluntourism that we as travellers could express our gratitude,” Clemmons told The Jordan Times.
“There is a need not only to take something back home, but to leave something behind, to leave a piece of the traveler. This is where we see this market heading,” he said.
The concept originated with Western backpackers staying with families in South America and looking for ways to help the local community, according to industry leaders.
Over the past decade, the voluntourism market has grown, with tourists engaging in volunteer activities on all five continents, ranging from building local schools to aiding in harvests.
The 2009 Forecast Poll by Travelocity.com revealed that 13 percent of travelers planned on including volunteer service as a part of their leisure itineraries last year.
According to Clemmons, Jordan has a culture of “hospitality” that can be marketed to facilitate several different types of voluntourism exchanges, and raise the Kingdom’s profile as a stand-alone destination. The types of activities offered, however, NGOs have to determine, he added.
During a seminar sponsored by the Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association (JITOA) gathering NGOs and tour operators on Thursday, Rabee Zureikat highlighted the success of his initiative, “Zikra”, in fostering cultural exchange.
Other long-standing initiatives include the Iraq Al Amir women’s cooperative and Bani Hamida, where cultural products are ready to be marketed. Others, such as the Al Ayoun Trail, developed by the Tourism Ministry and local municipalities in Ajloun, utilise hiking and natural scenery to facilitate encounters with local residents.
Brother Andrew, director of the Holy Land Institute for the Deaf, underlined that institutions whose sole focus is non-cultural may provide opportunities for “volunteering”.
Industry stakeholders mostly agreed that although there is potential in Jordanian voluntourism, this type of tourist offering needs to be developed to be presented to tourists looking to plan their holiday.
Wendy Botham, director of Petra Moon Tourism Services, said NGOs need to develop and showcase products so that operators will know what to market to consumers.
“We have the opportunity to start from the ground up and develop professional products to offer visitors,” she noted.
NGOs underlined a need for training on how to take advantage of their services and involve foreign visitors.
NGOs lack the business savvy, product development and pricing mechanisms that tend to be common knowledge in the private sector, while operators may not be as aware of local cultural assets and opportunities for exchange as organisations well-immersed in the community, according to Clemmons.
As part of an effort to introduce the niche market to the sector, JITOA sponsored a field trip to various initiatives on Friday, and held several seminars by Clemons for both NGOs and tour operators.
The seminars are part of the EU/Jordan Service Modernisation Programme.
In its second phase, JITOA intends to meet with NGOs in order to present activities to tour operators and develop a web portal showcasing NGOs’ services, opportunities and schedules of events, according to JITPA CEO Nizar Adarbeh.
He said JITOA is looking to develop a code of conduct and guidelines for tourists, tour operators and NGOs on voluntourism in order to promote best practices in the nascent sector.
With the interest of industry operators and NGOs “piqued”, he expressed hope that the voluntourism concept will take root in the Kingdom soon.
“We are just at the beginning, and we need to give a helping hand to support good causes in Jordan,” he said.
Clemmons agreed. “Through voluntourism you can open up the heart of a traveller and open up the heart of a destination,” he said.
Climate Vigil Rally Chitral, Pakistan
December 11, 2009
A vigil rally in Booni, northern Chitral, Pakistan was organized through the facilitation of CAMAT [Chitral Association for Mountain Area Tourism]. The objectives of the placard bearing rally was to showcase solidarity and show support to the climate change SOS Copenhagen and to highlight the issues of climate change in the Hindu Kush mountains that has already posed a serious challenge to the communities living here.
The participants were mostly students of Government High School Booni and Pamir Public School apart from business community, political leadership, social workers and people from different walk of life. The rally walked for a kilometer before concentrating at the main Booni square where teachers, political leadership and business community representatives addressed them. It was maintained that for the last three decades there has been a considerable degradation to the natural environment is inevitably linked to global warming. The destruction of the village Sonoghor and Brep three years ago resulting from glacier bursting and the devastation of village Washeej from the snow avalanches are the eye opener in this regard.
The melting glaciers high up in the Eastern Pamir region—which are vital source of cultivation in the entire northern Pakistan for centuries—are melting very rapidly. If these natural water reservoirs get lost, then the people here do not have any other option except to migrate to other places the way some of the valuable bird species have already done.
Likewise climate change has also severely threatened the habitat of the valuable natural biodiversity including some of the rare bird species like the black throated thrush, finches, magpie, grey tit and golden eagle that almost disappeared as their ecological needs were no longer fulfilled in the given ecological system. The population of wolf and fox has drastically shrunk and they are about to disappear. The degradation of the substantial vegetative covering has caused migration to markhor and wild goat that has disturbed the food chain for the elusive snow forcing him to migrate to some other habitats. Now one can have very rare glimpses of the snow leopard in northern Pakistan. It must have migrated to some other places better suiting his ecological needs.
The speakers at the rally emphasized that students, being young and energetic agents of positive social change and silent revolution, have to be focused whilst addressing the issues of natural environment. Moreover, they recorded their apprehension with regard to the damages to the natural climate as a matter of real concerns for the mountainous communities as it is affects their social, political, communal and economic needs and create a range of health related issues. If land resources are eroded and natural biodiversity degraded, then it will surely threatened our own very existence. It is, therefore, for the protection of natural environment and forming combined front against global warming must be the priority no one for the mountainous communities.
At the end of the rally, the following resolution was unanimously passed with an aim to protect the healthy natural environment of the Hindu Kush region:
• That today on Dec 11, 2009, a vigil climate rally supporting the conference in Copenhagen firmly pledges to continue efforts for the protection of natural environment by supporting the cause worldwide. To this end, the strength of school, places of worships and other social centre will be harnessed, awareness will be raised and a workable plan will be prepared at grassroots.
• That developed and industrial nations are appealed to curtail the emission of carbon into the atmosphere so that the prospect of global warming would automatically be reduced and its negative impacts on the remote and less developed mountainous regions would be minimized.
• That there must be authentic research initiatives on the part of developed nations to measure the continuing damages to the natural environment of the mountainous communities in northern Pakistan. Based on such researches, awareness campaign will be mounted in the target communities and improved and coordinated strategy aimed at tackling the menace of global warming would be undertaken.
• That courses on environment must necessarily be included in the curriculum of schools, both in the government and private sectors so that they will have proper knowledge and be equipped in handling the problems of natural environment based on their indigenous knowledge.
• That to fight against climate change; it is of paramount importance to put a halt to deforestation in the southern Chitral and to increase forest everywhere else in the district. Only with much greenery can we assure the health of our natural environment. To reduce pressure on the existing forest belt, the rally maintained, provision of an alternative source of fuel to the energy starved Hindu Kush region either in respect of natural gas from Central Asia or by generating electricity from its numerous rivers and streams could be helpful.
JITOA Negotiates Landmark Professional Insurance Coverage for Member Tour Operators
November 18, 2009
Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association (JITOA) is pleased to announce that it has negotiated with the Euro-Arab Insurance Group to offer its tour operator members Professional Indemnity and Public Liability insurance coverage. Members have the option to purchase this coverage from September 1st 2009 and by January 1st 2010 all JITOA tour operator members will be required to maintain this insurance coverage.
Similar coverage has long been a requirement for many national tour operator associations, including the (USTOA) and the (BTOA). Until now, such coverage has not been available for Jordanian tour operators. The development of this coverage is another mark of JITOA’s ongoing efforts to raise the standards for Jordan’s inbound tour operators to meet International Best Practices guidelines. Foreign outbound tour operators are increasingly requiring that their inbound partners have professional indemnity and public liability coverage, and JITOA is pleased that its members can now provide the mark of high professional standards to its overseas partners.
JITOA also offers its members several benefits such as a wide range of educational programs, familiarization visits to tourism sites throughout Jordan and advocacy on a number of issues which affect the tourism sector, one of Jordan’s most important export industries accounting for more than 12% of the country’s GDP.
About JITOA
The Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association is a voluntary-membership organization comprised of active tour operator members and associate members (including hotels and hotel chains, Event Management Companies, NGO’s, Buss Companies, educators, tour guides and others) with an interest in improving the quality of the visitor’s experience in Jordan. JITOA and its membership are actively committed to raising the standards of the industry as a whole through the spread of Codes of Conduct, a Code of Ethics and by providing continuing education and advocacy support to the industry.
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