The issue of tourism today is no longer just about how we attract tourists to Jordan, but about how we manage the entire tourism system, and how we ensure that growth in visitor numbers translates into sustainable economic growth whose impact benefits the state, the investor, and the local community.
اضافة اعلان
This is where the story of tourism governance begins. A tourist does not deal with institutions individually, does not know where a ministry's responsibility ends and an authority's responsibility begins, and does not care who is responsible for the road, the transport, the site, or the service. They see Jordan as a single destination and judge their experience as a single system.
For this reason, each entity continuing to work within the boundaries of its own jurisdiction, without a clear system for coordination, decision making, and accountability, will keep tourism fragmented, no matter how much visitor numbers rise or how many marketing campaigns are multiplied.
Today we need a different question: who governs the tourism system? This is not about who promotes Jordan in foreign markets, or who manages the law and operations of Jordanian tourism directorates and facilities. That is an important part of the work, but it is not all of it.
Governance means having a body that sees the full picture, one that links marketing, investment, transport, infrastructure, the tourism product, local communities, and the private sector, and ensures that these parties work toward a single economic goal, with clear responsibilities, authorities, and accountability. I am not talking here about committees or joint boards formed from stakeholders in this service.
From here, the time may have come to reconsider the structure of the Jordan Tourism Board, its mission, the substance of its work, and its manner of performance.
In fairness, the current Minister of Tourism may be the first to have actually begun organizing the internal house of the Board, which had already accomplished a great deal previously. This is an important step that should not be ignored or underestimated, although I am certain there remain elements not yet mature in the current model, since reforming the house from within is the natural starting point for any real transformation, but a start alone is not enough.
We hope the next step will be moving to the second level: from organizing the internal house to redefining the Board's position and role within the national tourism system, not by adding a new task to its current duties, or changing a director within it, nor merely by expanding the existing model, but by redefining the role itself.
The Tourism Board of the future should not remain merely an arm for promotion, but could become the coordinating mind for governing Jordan's tourism destination, the body that brings all parties together around a single strategy, follows up on its implementation, measures its economic impact, identifies points of friction between institutions, and, most importantly of all, holds the will and official authority to pursue solutions that go beyond administrative boundaries.
But this, certainly, cannot happen under the model currently in operation. We do not necessarily need a bigger board, but a more influential one, one clearer in its responsibilities, more connected to the sector, more capable of coordination, and more focused on results.
We need to move from the question: how many tourists did we attract? to more important questions: how much did they spend? how much of that spending remained within the local economy? how many jobs did it create? how much investment resulted from it? and how do we raise the economic value of each visitor?
The tourism sector does not need more institutional islands, but a system that connects these islands to one another. We cannot build the tourism of the future with a seasonal management mindset. Tourism needs system management, sustainability of decision making, continuity of vision, and the involvement of society and the private sector in shaping the future, not merely waiting for its results.
Therefore, redefining the role of the Tourism Board is not merely an administrative matter concerning the Board and the Ministry of Tourism alone, but a state level decision tied to the future of Jordanian tourism and its ability to compete.
The first step may have already begun with organizing the internal house. The second step, which we hope begins now, is to move beyond the house toward rebuilding the system itself.
Tourism is not always lacking a new product, a new campaign, or a new slogan. What it may lack is a new system for managing what we already have. A fine proof of success is Ayla Company and the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority's enlisting a number of their supporting partners to revive the city of Aqaba across all its sectors for twenty four hours in a single event that rose to a level surpassing the efforts of institutions that have been planning for years. This is precisely where the real battle over the future of Jordanian tourism begins.
*Former Commissioner of Tourism and Environment at the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority
