Arnie Weissmann
Buried in the 1994 Israel-Jordan treaty that formally ended hostilities was a peace dividend for tourism: It stipulated that Jordan and Israel would co-market as a joint tourist destination in (only) the U.S.
I was present when this was announced with much fanfare at an event at the ASTA World Congress in Lisbon in 1994.
Prior, there was no Jordan tourism office in the U.S. In fact, there was no Jordan tourism office anywhere, not even within Jordan.
The kingdom hired Malia Asfour, then working for the Jordan Information Bureau in Washington, to open a tourism office. The Jordan Tourism Board -- North America (JTBNA), funded by the Jordanian government and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), was established in early 1997.
Asfour, who has a master's in international marketing management, still heads the office. The U.S. is the largest source market for Jordan, and she and her team have been instrumental in raising global visitation from slightly more than a million in 1995 to 4.28 million in 2022 (the most recent year for which numbers are available). Importantly, over this same period, the JTBNA increased the average length of stay for North American visitors from just over two nights to more than eight. Tourism represents about 12% of Jordan's GDP; it's the second-most important contributor to its economy.
To say that Jordan punches above its weight as a tourism marketing organization in the U.S. is a gross understatement. Asfour is everywhere: She's the immediate past chair of Tourism Cares, is on the board of the Adventure Travel Trade Association and is very active with the USTOA. The JTBNA works closely with Virtuoso, Signature and Travel Leaders as a preferred destination.
The majority of her spend goes to the trade. She regularly lures industry groups and media to tour the country, and Jordan recently received 700 delegates to GX Jordan, a gathering of G Adventures' staff, partners, travel advisors and media.
Yet, on Oct. 7, she was informed that she was to close the office by Nov. 30.
There's no question that the Israel-Hamas war and cuts to USAID have negatively impacted both promotional funding and tourism to the country. A reduction of funding for the office until Gaza is out of the headlines wouldn't be unexpected. But to permanently shutter an office in the largest source market in the second-largest segment of the economy is insanity.
I suppose we in the U.S. can hardly point a finger, given the 80% reduction in funding for Brand USA this year. That, too, was insanity.
There is yet another parallel in these demented decisions: The cuts are coming despite real opportunities related to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which is being hosted by North America and in which Jordan's participation was going to be exploited with a three-part marketing plan, including From Pitch to Petra activations in gateway cities; co-branded partnerships with Royal Jordanian, Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt; and media and influencer collaborations in host cities.
The office closing also comes despite Royal Jordanian's announced route extension plans to Washington Dulles, Dallas-Fort Worth and Seattle over the next three years.
Jordan's national tourism board, which still exists, is fielding RFPs from public relations firms to maintain some presence in North America. For some destinations, I can see how this might make economic sense. But the difference in this case is that the institutional knowledge and significant goodwill built up by Asfour and the JTBNA -- both important sources of reputational equity -- are being abandoned.
For Jordan to do this close on the heels of an agreement to cease hostilities between Israel and Hamas is even more baffling, though admittedly that agreement is proving somewhat shaky.
The real victims of this folly are the citizens of Jordan. I'm not referring only to traditional tourism workers in hotels or those businesses near Petra, Jerash, Wadi Rum and other major tourism attractions. Those people will undoubtedly face serious challenges, but there's another dimension of pain that will be felt.
Asfour had proposed an initiative to Tourism Cares called The Meaningful Map of Jordan. Social enterprises in the country that could be attractive to visitors but were not near existing tourist sites were identified and added to the map. These included women-run restaurants, refugee craft centers, ecolodges, stops on the pan-nation Jordan Trail and other community-based enterprises.
The program has been a resounding success, in part thanks to tour operators that added stops at these sites. Bani Hamida, a women's rug weaving cooperative, had 17 employees when, in 2018, it was added to the inaugural map. Today there are 315 staff, with an additional 1,800 women in the surrounding community who have found employment in businesses supporting the cooperative.
The Jordan meaningful map was so successful that Tourism Cares has now replicated the initiative for 45 other destinations.
I'm told the decision to close the JTBNA is final. Jordan tourism has always faced challenges, few of its own making. This one, however, is 100% self-inflicted.