Travel Weekly editor in chief Arnie Weissmann is in Jordan with a group of travel industry professionals on a trip organized by the Jordan Tourism Board and Tourism Cares. His second dispatch follows:
The 70 professionals who spent the last five days of February in Jordan with Tourism Cares represented a broad swath of the industry: travel agents and OTAs, tour operators and tourist boards, leaders of charities and professional associations.
Media, aviation, travel insurance and the U.S. government were represented, as were both deep water and river cruise lines. Google showed up.
Members of the Tourism Care delegation to Jordan in front of the Treasury in Petra. © TW photo by Arnie Weissmann
During the course of the program, attendees more or less shared a common experience, including visits to some of the 12 tourism-related social enterprises that had earned a spot on a "Meaningful Map of Jordan," put together by Tourism Cares and the Jordan Tourism Board; excursions to some of Jordan's most famous attractions, including Petra and the Dead Sea; workshops; and extravagant dinners with cultural performances. Time had been scheduled for physical volunteer work, but a storm derailed that portion of the program, for the most part.
What struck me over the course of the four days we were together was that no two people I spoke with had the same motivation for joining, nor were their takeaways identical. The mosaic of perspectives provided insight into the varied ways the industry thinks about the confluence of social responsibility and business.
Actually, there were two recurring motifs within conversations about why people signed up, both expressed directly by Reagan Stulbaum, a vice president NYC & Company: "I'm here because of [Jordan Tourism Board, North America, director] Malia [Asfour]. I knew she would create and introduce us to fabulous experiences. And I'm here in support of Tourism Cares. NYC & Company receives support from the industry, and we want to give back."
(Stulbaum and Asfour both serve on Tourism Cares' board of directors.)
Asfour's influence was omnipresent. She acted as master of ceremonies, and joining the audience at one event were Jordan's minister of tourism, Lina Annab, and the managing director of the Jordan Tourism Board, Dr. Abed al Razzaq Arabiyat. She noted it was a little nerve-wracking being in a room with "so many bosses."
But when Annab took the stage next, she addressed Asfour directly, saying, "On behalf of all the bosses, I just want to say, don't worry, because in reality, we're all bossed around by you."
After dinner one evening, Travel Corporation chief executive Brett Tollman cited several reasons for joining the group. In addition to being "fascinated by Jordan," he saw the trip as an opportunity to expand and improve experiences provided by his company.
An opening to do just that presented itself on the very first day when he visited the Iraq al Amir Women's Cooperative, where local women teach (and sell) traditionally made paper, pottery, handmade fabric and soap.
He was so moved by the experience that he made an on-the-spot commitment from his company and its affiliated Treadright Foundation for a $30,000 grant to the 20-year-old co-op, and before the trip ended had initiated discussions with the leadership of Travel Corporation's Trafalgar, Insight and UniWorld brands about how they could incorporate the enterprise into their itineraries.
"It's a pivotal time. We're putting together our 2019 programs, so we have to move quickly to take advantage of these experiences," he said.
Tollman is looking closely at the other 11 social enterprises on the "meaningful map," and has already identified possibilities for two: having groups walk a small portion of the 400-mile Jordan Trail near Petra and staying at the Feynan Ecolodge in the Dana Biosphere Preserve.
For Javier Valdez, the millennial president of New York-based Myght, the conference seemed to have 100% relevance to his business. He had begun his career working in sales for Hilton, but was drawn to the hospitality company's corporate social responsibility programs. Inspired, he left his job there two years ago to begin a travel agency "built around sustainability and social issues."
The agency is morphing into a consultancy to "educate the entire value chain -- agencies, suppliers and travelers -- about how to incorporate aspects of these values into trips.
"This is a lifelong journey for me," he said, "and I'm here because I want to learn from other entrepreneurs" who have simpatico motivations.
Google's managing director of advertising and marketing for travel, Rob Torres, sees participation in Tourism Cares' programs as part of the company's obligation to embed itself into the fabric of the industry. "I tell my team members you don't forge great relationships by simply making sales calls. You have to get involved. You go where the people are and do what they're doing."
And, he said he also wanted to join the group because "selfishly, I had visited six of the New Seven Wonders of the World and wanted to add the seventh, Petra."
Delta was represented by two delegates, Lauren Faucher, senior account executive and member of the Tourism Cares board of directors, and Norma Dean, director of specialty sales. Dean said that although her budget supports the organization, she had never personally participated before. She was there, she said, because "I needed to really understand it."
Travel agent Jay Holman of Bridges and Holman Worldwide Travel in Hesperia, Calif., saw the mission not only as an opportunity to support Tourism Cares but to help his agency branch out to sell the Middle East. "I've sent a few people to Israel over the years, but haven't really pushed it."
Having spent the better part of a week in Jordan, Bridges is confident that it can become an important part of his portfolio. "It's more than I expected," he said. "The [Jordanian] people have been awesome, and not just those involved in the program. The people you meet on the street are, as well, and the women I've met in the [social impact] cooperatives have had such great stories. I came in early to see Amman, and now I have stories to tell as well. This is why you need to go."
Diane Ditto, director of product for Collette, also sang the praises of the destination. "I know this sounds simple, but Jordan is easy. The people are friendly, and you're immediately comfortable."
Reagan Stulbaum of NYC & Co. and Rob Torres of Google in the lobby of the Petra Marriott Hotel. © TW photo by Arnie Weissmann
I sit on the Tourism Cares board's global committee, alongside Asfour, Tauck co-owner Robin Tauck, USTOA CEO Terry Dale and Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy executive director Keith Sproule. I was involved in some of the decision-making pre-trip, so I have to admit a certain bias and my great hopes that the trip would be relevant and meaningful to those who signed up.
But I was not involved in putting together the day-by-day details of the trip itself, and participated simply as a delegate. And as such, I'll admit there was a wide gap between what I anticipated and what I experienced, in a very positive way. I had been to Jordan before and thought I "knew" it, but the meaningful map opened my eyes to its culture, people and landscapes in ways that served not just to broaden my knowledge base of the destination, but lead to a much deeper understanding of Jordan and Jordanians.
Terms like "experiential" and "immersive" have lost much of their meaning through misapplication and overuse, but it's nonetheless true that when a trip actually delivers on the implications of these words, the trip becomes so much more rewarding and memorable. No previous press trip or fam I've been on can come close to what I experienced in Jordan.
And I'll add that being in the company of people committed to exploring and expanding the possibilities of what this industry can do to change the lives of guests and hosts alike is very stimulating. I met amazing, inspiring people and deepened connections with others who I thought I knew fairly well.
During our post-dinner conversation, Tollman said the meaningful map was unusual in part because it's rare for a tourist board to be proactive in creating experiences rather than leaving it for companies like his to do the job.
Indeed, the trip spurred me to recognize the need for a meaningful map of the world. And piece by piece, through public-private partnerships and organizations like Tourism Cares, I believe that can come together.
Tourism Cares staff members Kati Hagedorn and Jessica Ahern, as well as Jordan Tourism Boards' Omar Banihani, worked tirelessly to ensure the many, many moving parts of this program integrated smoothly. And this trip could never have come to fruition without the tremendous efforts of Tourism Cares CEO Mike Rea.
And kudos to Marriott's country general manager in Jordan, Philip Papadopoulos, whose hotels played host to the delegation in Amman, the Dead Sea and Petra. Papadopoulos is a man so colorful and entertaining I would happily watch a reality TV show that simply follows him around.
Other sponsors not mentioned above who supported the trip include Tauck Ritzau Innovative Philanthropy, TripMate, USAID, the Kempinski Hotel Ishtar, ASTA, the Bob Whitley Memorial Fund, the Jordan Kuwait Bank, the Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association, the Aqaba Natural Marine Aquarium, Rivage and Royal Jordanian Airlines.