INTRODUCTION. Hundreds of bikers riding into Jordan to take part in the Jordan Riders Rally this weekend INSIDE THIS ISSUE. Newsletter April 2017

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1 INTRODUCTION INSIDE THIS ISSUE Bikers ride into Jordan to take part in the Jordan Riders Rally Hands-on experiences draw people to farms in As-Salt Family-run hotel in Petra working towards service excellence Jordan Valley local community leaders train to promote tourism job opportunities JETT introduces five new routes around Jordan Handicraft week kicks off official venue for JHPA s handicraft market Jordan Trail thru-hike continues with many praises Hundreds of bikers enter Jordan from all over to take part in the 4th annual Jordan Riders Rally. Rural As-Salt is drawing people in from urban areas around Jordan to experience farm-life. Meet the professors who have gone back in to industry to update their skills. Jordan Valley local community leaders train to promote tourism job opportunities. JETT has introduced new routes to tourism destinations all around Jordan that are open to the public. See what hikers on the Jordan Trail thru-hike have to say about their experience. Handicraft week has begun at Beit Shocair in Jabal Amman, make sure to stop by to purchase handmade goods. Hundreds of bikers riding into Jordan to take part in the Jordan Riders Rally this weekend The Jordan Riders Rally kicks off tomorrow with around 700 motorcycle riders taking part. About 500 of those are visitors to Jordan from the region and beyond. The event is organized by the Jordan Riders group and the Royal Motorcycle Club of Jordan (RMCJ) with Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA) and Jordan Tourism Board support, and is sponsored by Zain, Manasweer, Hala and Bliss FM, and others. The USAID BEST also supported this exciting event, as part of a grant to RMCJ to help promote Jordan as a motorcycle tourism destination

2 RMCJ Chairman, Soud Soror, explained, We have stunning routes and scenery, excellent support from the tourism police for maximum road safety and great cooperation from customs. We look forward to working with the concerned authorities on the motorcycle rental regulations to help boost this growing sport even more. The Intercontinental Hotel in Amman served as the rally base, with riders moving out in four groups on Friday and Saturday morning for a 200km ride each day past several cities and towns, across diverse landscapes and past ancient and natural attractions. This year s route covers the central areas of Jordan on day one, moving past Jiza and along the scenic backroads of Madaba to Um Ar-Rassas then returning via Al Hidan and Mount Nebo. The second day will take riders to the verdant north of Jordan, along winding roads through Jubeiha and passing Jarash, the King Talal Dam and Dibeen, and returning through Um Rummana. Saturday night s closing ceremony includes a performance by popular Jordanian singer Omar Al Abdallat. As every year, the Jordan Riders and RMCJ have coordinated with customs and border controls to facilitate riders coming from abroad and exempt vehicle entry fees for them. This is good news for the majority of the participants who will be riding into Jordan to take part and Jordanian customs are ready to give them a warm welcome at the borders. Family-run hotel in Petra working towards service excellence The P Quattro Relax Hotel in Wadi Mousa, Petra is a family-run hotel that was opened last year by four brothers who seek to utilize their collective skills to re-shape customer service and hotel management in the area. Zeyad, Ra ed, Murad and Waleed Al-Amarat have all been working in various areas of the hospitality sector over the past years and each serve key functions within the 29- room hotel. Zeyad, who has been working in tourism since 2008, handles the reservations and front office. Ra ed is head chef, bringing 20 years of experience in food and beverage production at hotels in Italy back to his hometown. Murad started his career as a hotel bellboy in Jordan and rose through the ranks, and now manages services and PR. Waleed learned the ins and outs of a hotel laundry department and now handles that department. The brothers are always striving to improve all aspects of their hotel and offer visitors to Petra excellent service and a warm and welcoming experience. There is always new opportunities to grow in the tourism sector in Jordan, you just have to be creative enough to attract the guests, said Zeyad. He explains that the secret to attracting new guests is to provide them with all the services they may need, and to develop new innovative approaches to do this. USAID BEST is supporting the Al-Amarat brothers efforts through a grant to the hotel to enhance services and help them attain international quality standards required for a four-star hotel rating, as well as to help them reach wider markets. Over the coming few months, USAID BEST will help build sales and marketing capacity, and improve front office, customer care and communication skills. Training will be provided for staff to hone their hospitality skills and English language as well as learning first aid and food safety. An improved accounting and booking system will be introduced, and their system will be linked online booking engines for wider reach. Marketing capacity will be improved, especially for targeting conference and meeting business. In addition, the hotel will be better equipped to accommodate guests with disabilities. To attain excellence, as Zeyad explains, It is not about having a huge hotel with many rooms; it is all about the excellent services you provide for the guests to make their room feel like home.

3 Hands-on farming experiences draw crowds to rural As-Salt The rural areas of As-Salt are drawing visitors to experience handson farm activities, tastes and culture. Al-Marj Development and Training Company is developing a culture of agri-tourism in the area to encourage visitation to this beautiful part of Jordan and enable local farming communities to benefit directly from tourism. The company has created the brand BookAgri.com under which these activities are being offered. USAID BEST is supporting these efforts as a new authentic tourism product. Several agritourism products have already been developed, with more than 10 farms onboard and many families are already benefitting from the project. Rudaina Haddad, founder of BookAgri, has been arranging visits recently for representatives from organizations interested in bringing regular groups to experience the farm activities. According to Rudaina, We have so far brought around 50 key people from schools, universities, activity groups and others to the farms to experience the activities and taste the products on offer. The feedback has been extremely positive and we ve received a lot of interest to bring regular groups from their various education institutions and organizations for farm visits. Rudaina has also established a link between BookAgri and the Jala d Campsite. The camp hosts international groups and NGOs throughout the year, and are planning to begin sourcing their food and beverage offerings from the BookAgri network to offer their guests locally homemade food with ingredients fresh from the farm, along with seasonal food products. In addition, half-day and full day agritourism activities will be on offer to the camp guests, as well as the option of bringing activities to the camp itself. This is benefitting 65 families in the area who produce homemade food products. In addition, we have six farms offering farm-stays, three bed and breakfasts and five farms offering farm experiences. These families and their wider connections are all now benefitting from agritourism and there is potential for the circle to widen even further as visitor numbers increase, explained Rudaina. This month s visitors included yoga instructor and owner of One with Nature, Alexandra Yashina said, I had an amazing experience today! I ve never really connected with the local farming people to know what it is that they do. This would be a perfect opportunity for a yoga retreat! During the visits, the farming families showed their visitors how to feed baby goats, sort freekeh and collect chicken eggs, and taught them to make honey, zaatar, jameed, sumac, seasonal jams, and many other local products. Visitors can also purchase local homemade products from the farm. The agri-tourism initiative also shows great promise for the farms, families and producers involved. According to Um Hassan, who along with her family hosts visitors on their farm and teaches them to make za tar, I have been looking for ways to pay for my three daughters university studies. I used to sell my products at bazaars around Jordan, but opening up our home and selling our products through Bookagri.com will make our business even stronger, said farmer Um Hassan. Um Nidal, who s farm was renovated by a group of volunteer students, said, It was very tiring work, but the entire farm is finally ready for a well-rounded day events. Agri-tourism has the potential to build a positive relationship between the urban and rural communities by exposing visitors and tourists to the lifestyles of the farmers in As-Salt, giving them the opportunity to maintain their lifestyles and businesses.

4 Jordan Valley local community and youth leaders to promote tourism job opportunities USAID BEST and the InterContinental Hotels Group Dead Sea Hotels equipped 20 local community and youth leaders, including 12 women, from Ghor Al-Mazraa and South Shouneh with the skills and knowledge to spread positive messages about tourism to students and unemployed youth in the area. Following the training, these community leaders will visit schools in the Jordan Valley to promote training and career opportunities in tourism. The goal is to attract both male and female students to the IHG Hospitality Training Academy at the Dead Sea. The training was implemented in partnership with Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development (JOHUD) and Ghor Al-Mazraa Association. It is part of wider efforts to spread tourism awareness among local communities within the Jordan Valley and encourage interest in studies and careers in tourism and balance the need for skilled workers at hotels in the area with high unemployment rates in the nearby communities. JETT introduces five new routes around Jordan The Jordan Express Tourist Transportation Company (JETT) has opened new tour routes around Jordan to link visitors between Amman and key tourism destinations in the north and central parts of the country. Daily return routes will run between Amman and the Dead Sea and Amman and Madaba, with the Madaba route offering overnight stays. There is also a new shuttle service between the Dead Sea hotels and Bethany. The two other routes connect Amman to the north of Jordan; one is to Jarash and Ajloun and a second to Um Qais and each of these run twice a week. Along with the existing daily return trip to Petra, these JETT routes offer a reliable, affordable and convenient year-round transportation service to popular destinations in Jordan. The bus tours go beyond transportation, with options for packages that include entrance fees to tourism sites, lunch and hotel accommodation. Click here to view the available routes.

5 Handicraft week kicks off official venue for JHPA s Handicraft Market The Jordan Handicraft Producers Association has launched a handicraft week from April 25 to May 1, The event also introduces the permanent venue for the handicraft market, which facilitates a sales channel for producers and gives customers easy access to purchase from local producers and recommend their favorite handmade goods. Two weeks left of the Jordan Trail thru-hike The Jordan Trail thru-hike continues with two weeks left. Hikers have reached Dana so far and will reach the end of their journey at Aqaba on 13 th of May. Here s what participants had to say. Diana Taylor and Tony Howard, travel and outdoor enthusiasts and authors of Treks and Climbs in Wadi Rum, Jordan reflect on over 30 years of hiking around Jordan that led to ideas to start the Jordan Trail. We met lots of the outdoor community in Amman when climbing, trekking, caving and canyoning and everybody got into this Jordan Trail idea. Slowly we patched it together and now we are doing the thru-hike. It s a great place to start north Jordan in the spring! It is green, full of flowers and we are so happy that this dream of ours has become a reality. Andrew Evans is a guidebook author, hiker, travel writer, and the original National Geographic Digital Nomad finds an antique along the trail from Wadi Hasa to Ais on day 24 I am in the old Ottoman village of Al Ma tan, it is day 25 on the Jordan Trail. I ve walked all this way over 350 kilometers thus far. These village ruins are from about 500 years ago, there are also these amazing stone streets and old houses and it is such a cool campsite I m having the trip of my life. Hiking the Jordan Trail is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Natheer Khawaldeh writer, producer and actor in the comedy series My American Neighbor joined for the first day of the thru-hike. He said, I think the trail a great idea and I m always excited to get involved in anything that supports my country. It was very nice walking on the first day of the thru-hike. Everyone was really excited May Jordan Trail thru-hike continues Upcoming Events for May SiyahaJordan