Jordan has a problem. A diverse and ancient country, it lives in the shadow of just one of its major tourist attractions. Ever since Petra, and more specifically Al Khazneh (the Treasury), was featured in the major Hollywood blockbuster Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, the ancient pink city has become the face of the country to the global audience. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, it was named as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007. Now, the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) has identified the preeminence of Petra as the major challenge in the effort to market Jordan to the world.
“Jordan is not only Petra,” seems to be the mantra of everyone involved with the campaign to rebrand the country; tourism officials insist there is more to their kingdom. Search a little beyond the spectacular surface of Petra’s red sandstone, they say, and you’ll find Jerash, Amman, Mount Nebo, the Dead Sea, Aqaba, and Wadi Rum among many other attractions. The JTB has now devised a comprehensive branding strategy, encompassing all of what Jordan has to offer.

THE PROPOSITION. Jordan is full of history and culture. Yes, Petra is the main historical attraction, but there are other worthy competitors. Madaba, south of the capital Amman, is dubbed the “City of Mosaics” for its Byzantine and Ummayyad mosaics, while the ancient city of Jerash attracts a lot of tourists, and the country’s numerous and developing art galleries draw enthusiasts from across the region.
There are also leisure and wellness attractions. The Dead Sea offers water with healing properties, and the Ma’in Hot Springs, not far from the Dead Sea, have also turned into an attraction. A new hotel, the Evason Ma’in Hot Springs & Six Senses Spa, opened there earlier this year, and general manager Manish Puri says this kind of resort is the new face of Jordan tourism. “This is something new,” he says. “Jordan doesn’t have hotels like this one, which is concerned with being organic and socially and environmentally responsible.”
As for the great outdoors, Wadi Rum and Aqaba both have protected areas, and the Mujib Reserve is the lowest nature reserve in the world. Meanwhile, tourists looking to visit religious sites can see the Jordan River and Mount Nebo among others. Jordan has also positioned itself as a destination for conferences and events, with major hotels offering accommodation to large events.
As a consequence of all these options, Jordan is positioning itself as a destination of choices, says Fayiz F. Khouri, deputy managing director of the JTB in Amman. “We position ourselves that way in view of this rich compilation of products,” he explains. “It’s a rich and diversified country, with cultural sites and wellness sites, and the product itself is continuously being upgraded.”

THE TARGET MARKET. Khouri says that, because the destination is so small, the JTB is targeting high-end consumers. “The room number is limited, but the focus is on five star hotels and resorts,”he says. “Our resources are limited, so we do not go to the masses; we have 25,000 rooms in Jordan, while Sharm El Sheikh alone has around 45,000 rooms. We focus on the Gulf region for instance, where it is known for its high spending power. If we go to America, we don’t go to those who want all-inclusive packages; we don’t do that at all. High-end is our focus in general.”
Ashraf Abul Huda, marketing manager of the Kempinski Hotel Ishtar at the Dead Sea, agrees. “The least affected segment in tourism today is the luxury leisure traveler,” he says. “That’s basically because these are people who have money, who religiously have to go on holiday at certain times of the year. So they weren’t really affected by the recession.”
Puri says that the JTB is also gaining new markets, and diversifying Jordan’s clientele. “Europe used to be a traditional market, but the emerging economies are now China, India, and Asia in general,” he says. “So they’ve started setting up offices and now we have new faces here. The marketing in America has also been really aggressive.”

THE CHANNELS. The ads for Jordan are all over the international networks – CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera. They take you from the mountains to the sea and to Jordanian Bedouin tents; a 30-second spot may not be able to hold everything Jordan has to offer, but it does showcase adventure and culture, two of the six niche products the JTB has identified for the country.
“This is part of a long-term plan,” says Khouri. “We are promoting and pushing the six niche products on the markets; the most important one is history and culture, but we have so many other things. The five other products are leisure and wellness, eco and nature, religious tourism, events and conferences, and what we call medical tourism.”
“We are utilizing all kinds of tools to position ourselves on the regional market,” he continues. “Television is definitely becoming a tool that we are investing in, especially this year. We have a massive campaign on MBC group channels and Al Arabiya and on CNN International. We also have a lot of people representing us on the international market, through conferences and exhibitions. We use the Internet very much –actually we are the most active in the region, since we do everything from search engine utilization to Twitter, YouTube, and whatever you can think of in terms of tools. This has achieved marvelous results; with everything taking place at the global level, we recorded a growth in tourism this year.”
Abul Huda says online advertising has witnessed growth, with hotels utilizing the medium. “Everyone is pushing online, it’s the way to go for hotels right now,” he says. “What used to be 30 percent of our media budget allocated to online is now all of a sudden 50 or 60 percent of our budget.” He also says, though, that more traditional mediums are still used, particularly magazines, as they work well for luxury products. According to Abul Huda, 30 percent of the Kempinski Hotel Ishtar’s advertising is targeted locally, while the remaining 70 percent is international advertising.

ANOTHER CHALLENGE. Jordan’s varied tourism and growing infrastructure may have given a boost to the regional landscape, but it’s a region still blighted by the threat of terrorist attacks. As recently as 2005, a series of bombs exploded in Amman killing 60 people and injuring 115 others. It’s memories like this that could make Jordan a tough sell to international tourists.
But Khouri says tourism today is more resilient than it used to be, and that terrorism is now a threat affecting destinations all over the world, not just the Middle East. “In general, security is very tight,” he says. “We are in an area that is a bit volatile, but we are doing our best to change this perception in the international market. All our messages to the public are embedded with safety and security messages.”
It seems the shadow of terrorism does not loom as large over Jordan as the shadow of Petra.