Madaba — Despite the city’s unique historical and religious significance as Jordan’s first Christian pilgrimage stop, visitors’ experiences often end at the Madaba Mosaic Map at St. George’s Church, the city’s main attraction that draws thousands of visitors each year. This raises fundamental questions about the readiness of the city’s internal tourism route and its ability to smoothly guide tourists toward other heritage sites, cultural activities and economic attractions, particularly as the 2,000th anniversary of Jesus Christ’s ministry approaches.
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For many visitors, the Madaba Mosaic Map is where their journey through the historic city begins. Yet questions quickly arise: Where does the visitor go next? Will there be a comprehensive route map that easily guides them from the old churches to the heart of the heritage markets, from mosaic artisans to cultural events and local restaurants?
The city is home to numerous archaeological, religious and natural sites capable of creating a longer and more diverse tourism experience. However, it still needs greater attention and serious efforts to improve the visitor experience, facilitate access to all sites, and encourage tourists to extend their stay in one of Jordan’s key Christian pilgrimage destinations.
Lack of a practical map and the need to update tourism strategies
Tourism-sector stakeholders say Madaba is more than just a quick stopover. Its rich cultural and natural heritage qualifies it to become an independent multi-day tourist destination. The city contains numerous religious and archaeological sites, including the historic Franciscan Church, the Archaeological Park and the Madaba Institute for Mosaic Art and Restoration, which houses rare mosaic floors such as those of the Church of the Virgin Mary and the Burnt Palace. It also includes Mount Nebo and Machaerus, two major Christian pilgrimage sites historically associated with the prophets Moses and John the Baptist.
Mohammad Al-Nawafleh said: “Despite the richness of Madaba’s tourism offering, visitors face obstacles that prevent the city from fully realizing its potential and contribute to the prevalence of day-trip tourism. These include the absence of a unified route map and interconnected trails, congestion in the commercial center, a shortage of parking spaces, and narrow, poorly equipped sidewalks that make it difficult to move between churches and markets. There is also a lack of cultural events and festivals that encourage visitors to stay overnight.”
He added that the city urgently needs marketing for integrated tourism packages combining archaeological sites with handicrafts, restaurants and markets, which would increase tourist spending within the city.
Al-Nawafleh pointed out that Madaba has all the components needed to provide visitors with a comprehensive tourism experience, ranging from archaeological and religious sites to its proximity to the Ma’in Hot Springs, trails leading to the Dead Sea and Mujib Reserve for adventure activities, as well as mosaic workshops that reflect the continuation of Roman-Byzantine art through the work of Jordanian artisans, in addition to tourist restaurants and markets.
“Despite all these attractions, tourists still visit the city for only one day,” he said, stressing the need to develop a comprehensive roadmap to improve the visitor experience and extend stays.
He emphasized the need to move from promoting individual sites to marketing Madaba as an integrated tourism destination based on clear routes connecting archaeological and religious sites with community culture, arts, crafts, restaurants and events.
The goal, he said, is for a tourist’s visit not to end at a single site but to become a complete program that encourages them to explore the city and its surroundings and extend their stay. Visitors need a practical tourism map showing locations, distances, visit durations and available services, alongside ready-made routes that tourists and tourism companies can easily adopt.
Maryam Issa called for diversifying tourism programs targeting families, young people and groups by combining history, culture, nature, food and crafts, while using digital platforms to introduce visitors to these experiences rather than limiting content to individual archaeological sites in isolation from their surroundings.
Issa said transforming Madaba from a short-visit stop into an overnight destination offering a richer experience requires a strategy that includes developing a pedestrian heritage trail and establishing a clear, dedicated route connecting the Mosaic Map Church with the Archaeological Park, St. John the Baptist Church and heritage markets.
She also called for multilingual signs explaining the historical significance of each point, diversifying activities and involving the local community. This could include organizing a weekly market for handicrafts and traditional foods in central city squares, allowing visitors to connect with the everyday life of the local community.
She suggested transforming mosaic workshops from simple retail outlets into interactive experiences where tourists can participate in making a small mosaic piece themselves.
She also highlighted the importance of establishing an evening events calendar featuring cultural and musical activities in heritage houses and public spaces, as well as using architectural lighting to highlight archaeological landmarks at night. Such measures, she said, would stimulate activity at restaurants and cafés and increase demand for hotels.
She explained that elevating Madaba to the tourism status it deserves does not necessarily require discovering new attractions as much as managing and reorganizing the existing tourism route and connecting Madaba with its immediate surroundings.
Developing a clear and interconnected roadmap, both on the ground and logistically, could shift tourists’ perception of Madaba from simply visiting the Mosaic Map to experiencing the city as a whole.
Vibrancy and community engagement
Writer and novelist Nawal Al-Qassar said cultural tourism is a key driver in marketing any destination. She noted that extending tourists’ stays can only be achieved by reviving artistic and heritage events that reflect the city’s identity and create genuine interaction between visitors and the local community.
She stressed the importance of activating cultural tourism as an essential part of promoting and marketing sites and as a means of extending tourists’ stays in Madaba.
Organizing artistic and heritage events, she explained, would reflect the city’s identity and deepen social interaction between tourists and residents, allowing visitors to learn more closely about local customs, traditions and everyday life, while transforming culture and heritage from secondary elements of a visit into a living tourism experience.
Sufian Abu Qaoud said designing integrated itineraries that combine archaeological tourism in the morning with relaxation in the evening at Ma’in Hot Springs or Mount Nebo could encourage tourists to stay for at least 48 hours.
He stressed the importance of promoting nature and adventure tourism, given the many natural sites that could present Madaba as more than a traditional short-visit destination.
He added that the diversity of the governorate’s tourism offering could be used to develop a more comprehensive visitor experience, including archaeological and religious sites, cultural experiences and recreational activities. This would help transform Madaba from a short stop into an overnight destination.
Jordan has five sites recognized by the Vatican since 2000 as part of the Christian pilgrimage route: the Baptism Site of Jesus Christ, Mount Nebo, Machaerus, the Shrine of Our Lady of the Mountain in Anjara, and Tell Mar Elias. These sites, he said, offer an opportunity to strengthen the promotion of Madaba and connect it to Christian pilgrimage routes as part of an integrated religious and cultural program.
Fawzan Hourani, head of the Bayt Madaba Cultural Forum, said Madaba should capitalize on the presence of tourists by connecting tourism with community culture and giving visitors opportunities to learn about local customs, traditions, arts and heritage.
He stressed that incorporating local culture into the tourism experience deepens visitor engagement and extends stays.
“Madaba has all the elements of a tourism experience. What it needs is to organize them into interconnected routes and turn its archaeological, cultural and natural wealth into programs that make visits longer and more diverse, giving tourists a reason to discover the city rather than simply pass through it, while also creating broader opportunities for restaurants, artisans, services and local businesses to benefit from tourism activity,” he said.
Restaurant-sector investor Nour Al-Hawatmeh called for incorporating cultural and artistic events into daily tourism programs, organizing performances that reflect Madaba’s identity and heritage, and linking restaurants and tourism establishments to these events.
Presenting the city as an open-air museum encompassing mosaics, archaeology, history and the arts would diversify the visitor experience and extend stays, he said.
He added that the goal is not simply to increase the number of events or advertised sites, but to transform existing assets into ready-to-market tourism programs with clear durations, routes, services, booking options and prices that tourism companies can offer visitors before they arrive in Madaba.
He also called for digital maps and accurate information about starting points, transportation and visit durations.
Al-Hawatmeh summarized the roadmap needed to advance Madaba’s tourism sector as beginning with creating a unified map of tourism routes, developing the tourism product, improving the skills of tour guides, updating signage and visitor services, and producing visual and digital content targeting local and international markets that presents Madaba as an integrated destination.
He explained that successfully turning Madaba’s archaeological, historical and natural wealth into a well-organized and effectively marketed tourism product would not only extend visitors’ stays but also open broad economic opportunities for restaurants, artisans and local businesses, strengthening the city’s position as a distinctive destination on the global tourism map.
Institutional integration and digital transformation
Dr. Ahmad Al-Rifai, spokesperson for the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, said the government’s vision is based on presenting Jordan’s tourism product comprehensively, with the roles of the ministry, the Jordan Tourism Board, the private sector, companies and tour guides working together.
He explained that tourism promotion involves presenting Jordan’s tourism product as an integrated offering, beginning with identifying target markets and visitor interests and continuing through the development of content, programs and routes that turn tourism assets into marketable experiences.
Al-Rifai noted that Madaba has the components needed to develop multiple tourism routes covering cultural, religious, natural, adventure and domestic tourism.
Digital transformation, he said, has become a key tool for introducing these destinations to target markets. Modern tourism marketing is no longer limited to advertising a site; it also tells tourists what they can visit, how they can move around, how long the program will take, and what services and experiences are available.
Al-Rifai also highlighted the importance of the “Our Jordan is a Paradise” program in introducing Jordanians to archaeological and tourism sites through organized and subsidized trips, connecting visitors with local sites, services and businesses.
For Madaba, the challenge remains bringing these assets together into a single tourism product that can be sold and marketed. The Mosaic Map can serve as the starting point, from which tourists move to churches, archaeological sites, markets, crafts, restaurants and events, and then to Mount Nebo and surrounding sites through clear routes that benefit tourism companies, the local community and the private sector.
This requires practical cooperation between official institutions, the tourism sector and the local community, beginning with the preparation of a unified route map, identifying viable experiences, training tour guides, improving signage and services, connecting programs with booking and transportation, and then marketing them in local and international markets through clear visual and digital content.
Resource: Al-Ghad. Reporting: Ahmad Al-Shawabkeh
