São Paulo – Brazilians are visiting Jordan more and the Arab nation is making an effort to further increase this flow. According to Mahfouz Kishek, the Marketing director of Jordan Tourism Board, the official tourism organisation, travels of Brazilians to the country rose around 30% in the first seven months of 2012 as against the same period in 2011. Last year, 8,400 Brazilians visited Jordan. In 2010 there were 8,200 people.
Kishek was in the city of São Paulo on Thursday (30) for an event for promotion of tourism in his country. Seven Jordanian travel operators had business roundtables with around 60 representatives of agencies, operators and Brazilian companies at Intercontinental Hotel. Last Tuesday, they visited Rio de Janeiro, where they approached 115 operators, and on Wednesday, Campinas, where they met with 84 companies. According to Kishek, the roundtables were successful and should generate new business.
This was the first time that Jordan Tourism Board promoted an event of the kind in Brazil, but Kishek has plans to repeat the initiative in new cities next year, one of them, the Federal Capital, Brasília. “We feel that Brazil is a potential market,” said the director to ANBA regarding the consumer capacity of Brazilians. According to him, what attracts most Brazilians to Jordan are the historic and religious attractions. The country attracts from couples to youths. Kishek clarifies that it is not an expensive, boutique, destination.
Apart from religion and history, however, the Marketing director explains that Jordan has even more to offer in tourism, like adventure and relaxation attractions, as well as being a good option for promotion of trade events due to its convention centre. In the country, it is possible to visit churches, monuments from several phases of history, sites of religious importance, as well as the desert and it is also possible to practice adventure sports, among other activities.
Kishek explains that Jordan is investing in the area, with the construction of a new airport with capacity for nine million passengers a year, as well as hotels and marinas.
Despite this being the first time Jordan Tourism Board promotes business roundtables with operators in Brazil, the organisation has already developed several initiatives to come closer to the market. Last year, it opened an office in the city of São Paulo, through the Interamerican Network, a marketing and public relations company for the areas of travel and tourism. The organisation also participated in fairs in the country and took agencies, as well as journalists, to learn more about the tourist attractions.
After the business roundtables, Jordan Tourism Board offered a dinner to the operators and guests, in which Jordan was presented as a tourist destination. “We are here to establish a partnership with you,” said Kishek. Élio Cerulo, the representative of Jordan Tourism Board at Interamerican, recalled the several attractions in the country, like Petra, the historic city sculpted into stone, the Dead Sea, the River Jordan, where Jesus Christ was baptized, and Mount Nebo, from where Moses viewed the Holy Land. The country is 400 kilometres long and has six million inhabitants. Tourism generates 40,000 direct jobs and 130,000 indirect ones.
The event included the presence of the honorary consul of Jordan in São Paulo, Mustafá Abdouni, who is a director at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce, and Jordanian ambassador Ramez Goussous, among others.
*Translated by Mark Ament
