AMMAN (May 13) – The Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) hosted the inaugural meeting of the USAID-supported Jordan International Conferences Ambassador Program today. Through a series of trainings, the program assists Jordanians to gain international recognition in sectors such as medicine, academia, and business in order to promote Jordan as a viable destination for meetings and conferences.

“Through this program, we seek to identify potential ambassadors – high profile representatives of various fields – to raise awareness about Jordan,” said JTB Director General Abdelrazzaq Arabiyat. “The Jordan Tourism Board will provide the ambassadors with the training, tools and support to bid for international conferences to be hosted in Jordan.”

The meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) industry stimulates an estimated $1.2 trillion and 400,000 conferences and exhibitions worldwide each year, providing significant economic benefits to host countries and cities.  In Jordan, revenue from MICE is only 1.7% of the country’s total tourism revenue, with great potential for growth.

“In 2014, we identified a lack of awareness about Jordan as a potential destination among MICE planners, which is holding back the tourism sector,” said Ibrahim Osta, Chief of Party to USAID’s Economic Growth through Sustainable Tourism Project. “Our aim is to address this lack of awareness, attract more MICE events to Jordan, and return the sector to growth.”

The Jordan Tourism Board is developing and implementing the Jordan International Conferences Ambassador Program in partnership with the USAID Economic Growth Through Sustainable Tourism Project.

                                             ### END ###