AQABA - In an effort to raise the southern port city to international tourism standards, an awareness campaign that aims to change the way the community thinks and treats visitors is currently under way.
The campaign, coordinated by the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) and the USAID-Jordan Tourism Development Project (JTDP), will reach out to students, teachers, policy- makers, industry workers and media to promote the importance of the sector in the city's development.
"This is the first phase of our successful national campaign, and it is finally time to bring it to Aqaba," USAID official Joseph Ruddy told The Jordan Times after a signing ceremony yesterday.
One of the most important parts of the initiative, according to the USAID official, is the focus on training policy-makers. Under the agreement, ASEZA will conduct awareness sessions to educate officials on sector facts and figures, and to urge decision-makers to take a greater role in facilitating further investment.
Also under the campaign, over 300 Aqaba taxi drivers will attend informal sessions on how to be more courteous to tourists, and to raise their awareness of different cultural norms.
"They shouldn't feel insulted if a tourist chooses to sit in the back seat," Ruddy said as an example.
As part of the initiative, all students from grades seven through 12 in Aqaba's public and private schools will be encouraged to consider careers in tourism, a sector that is now booming in the port city. ASEZA will also organise field trips for students and teachers to become more familiar with the city's rich cultural and historic heritage.
The campaign will also provide around 900 police and border patrollers with basic skills in hospitality and train them on how to treat tourists in a courteous and helpful manner.
The final pillar of the campaign is reaching out to media, in order to showcase Aqaba and its new investment opportunities as a way to promote the sector's continuing growth and importance.
A key emphasis for ASEZA Chief Commissioner Hosni Abu Gheida the inclusion of the media.
"[The media is] the voice, ears and eyes of the people, and it's important that they know the important role tourism plays in our development," Abu Gheida told reporters yesterday.
The ASEZA commissioner stressed that not just tourism, but economic investments and industry are all interrelated in the city's development. He listed several important developments that will transform the city to meet increasing demands.
"For one, we want to expand new hotel rooms from 2,000 to 5,000 to make staying in Aqaba more affordable for average Jordanians," Abu Gheida told The Jordan Times.
Another vision the commissioner expressed was creating infrastructure and entertainment for youth, such as cinemas and parks. According to him, ASEZA is currently exploring the possibilities of a large recreational park near the heart of the city.
Another important development is the planned establishment of shuttle buses to take visitors to and back from the south shore beaches, whose pristine beachfronts have so far been underutilised because of their distance from the downtown area, he added.
Abu Gheida pointed out that 6,000 houses have been built under His Majesty King Abdullah's initiative to provide subsidised housing to the local community who have suffered from rising property rates.
"The dreams are many, but we will try our best," the ASEZA commissioner said.
"The next three years, Aqaba will be a new city," he added.
If the tourism awareness campaign goes as many hope, the new Aqaba will be a city more open to tourist needs.
With the cooperation of the ministries of tourism and antiquities, education and labour, as well as the Greater Amman Municipality and ASEZA, the JTDP National Tourism Awareness campaign seeks to create a positive attitude towards tourism in the Kingdom in order to involve local communities in the ever-growing sector.
By Taylor Luck
© Jordan Times 2008
