Empowering Jordan’s Tourism Through Sustainability: Reflections on 2024

In 2024, Alison had the privilege of continuing her work as the Institutional Development Expert for the Jordan Tourism Programme (2021-2025), undertaken for the CBI Netherlands. This year, her focus remained on fostering sustainable practices within Jordan’s tourism sector by collaborating with leading organizations and stakeholders. The goal has been to integrate global sustainability standards into Jordan’s tourism framework, enhance its appeal to international markets, and promote the active involvement of local communities.

Driving Sustainability in Aqaba with ASEZA

One of the highlights of 2024 was the collaboration with the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA). Supporting ASEZA’s journey towards achieving Green Destinations certification has been a key part of this work. Some of the significant milestones this year included:

• Formalizing an agreement with Green Destinations at ITB Berlin in March for Aqaba to work towards being a certified green destination in by 2026.

• Submitting Aqaba’s Top 100 Sustainable Destination Management Story, “Scuttling Wrecks to Create a Sustainable Dive Sector.”

• Facilitating pilot programs, such as the Good Travel Scan for local dive resorts, ensuring sustainable practices in Aqaba’s dive tourism sector.

Looking ahead to 2025, the focus will be on supporting ASEZA to secure the Green Destinations Bronze Award and ensuring that the destination’s “By Nature” branding aligns with sustainable marketing principles.

Embedding Sustainable Practices within the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB)

At the national level, Alison worked closely with the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) to embed sustainability into its marketing strategies and operations. This included delivering intensive training for senior management and staff on sustainable tourism marketing. By the end of the year, a new organizational framework for sustainability had been established, alongside initiatives such as:

• Coaching teams to incorporate CBI’s market intelligence, targeting niche European markets to promote longer stays and higher local spending.

• Supporting the development of a Sustainable Marketing and Communications Manual.

• Facilitating JTB’s first Sustainable Tourism Forum, which brought together 80 practitioners to address sector challenges.

In 2025, work with JTB will focus on delivering the sustainability roadmap, establishing sustainable key performance indicators (KPIs), and creating an incentive scheme for businesses adopting sustainable certifications.

Advancing the Jordan Trail Association (JTA)

Work with the Jordan Trail Association (JTA) centred on launching the first Sustainable Tourism Practitioners Group and integrating the ATTA/Travelife sustainable Codes of Practice into JTA’s community supplier regulations.

Moving forward, these guidelines will be used to pilot a supplier grading system to encourage sustainable practices amongst community-based services.

Collaboration with the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN)

Although capacity to engage with the RSCN was limited in 2024, their ongoing work with ASEZA involved facilitating a very successful joint submission for the Aqaba Bird Observatory’s which was recognition in the Top 100 ITB Awards. Looking to 2025, we hope to help apply sustainability guidelines to the RSCN’s eco-lodges and community activities, ensuring alignment with national and international standards.

Facilitating National Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing

A cornerstone of our work in 2024 was fostering collaboration across public and private sectors. This included establishing the Sustainable Tourism Practitioners Working Group and supporting the inaugural Jordan Sustainable Tourism Forum. These platforms have enabled stakeholders to tackle key challenges such as biodiversity conservation, community engagement, and sustainable marketing.

In 2025, we aim to formalize these efforts by supporting JTB to create a committee to implement the Forum workshop outcomes and host the second annual Sustainable Tourism Forum.

Integrating Digital Tools and Market Intelligence

Recognizing the transformative potential of digitalization, we introduced innovative methods for leveraging CBI’s tourism market intelligence. JTB staff were trained to use AI tools like ChatGPT to design responsible tourism itineraries, merging sustainability with modern technology. This initiative will expand in 2025 to benefit a broader audience, including private sector members of JITOA (Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association).

Charting the Path Forward

Reflecting on 2024, we are deeply encouraged by the progress we’ve made in Jordan’s tourism sector. Through strategic collaboration and adherence to global sustainability standards, we’ve taken significant steps toward a unified vision for sustainable tourism. These efforts not only enhance Jordan’s appeal as a destination but also ensure long-term benefits for its communities and ecosystems.

As the Jordan Tourism Programme enters its final year, our focus will remain on fostering a collaborative, sustainable future for tourism in Jordan. We look forward to continuing this work, confident that the foundations we’ve built will support lasting change.