Jordan’s marketing tactics pay dividends as visitor numbers pick up

The Jordanian Tourism Board’s (JTB’s) £1 million marketing campaign designed to combat negative perceptions of the destination is starting to pay dividends in the UK.

Adel Amin, director of marketing for the JTB, said the high-profile 18-month campaign, which saw images of Jordan brandished on buses and billboards, as well as in print, on TV and in digital advertising, had convinced travellers the destination was safe to visit.

As a result, visitor numbers from the UK to Jordan had increased 5% year on year between January and September this year, he revealed.

“We have addressed the negative perception issue with our awareness campaign,” Amin told Travel Daily. “The UK market understands Jordan and its geography and we expect visitors to grow steadily.”

He said the filming of blockbuster Hollywood movie, The Martian, featuring Matt Damon, in Jordan’s Wadi Rum, had also proved the destination was safe to visit.

“It not only showcased Jordan, but proved movie production companies were willing to film there and we have since had interest from other film houses,” he said.

To build on the UK’s growing confidence in Jordan, the destination is hosting the Association of Independent Tour Operators (Aito) 2016 conference.

“Staging such an event for the UK trade definitely confirms that Jordan is a destination that should be on the bucket list,” he said.

“We have some ‘noisy’ neighbours, but we are safe to visit.”

Amin said several operators that had previously dropped the country from their programmes were reinstating the destination.

“We have been really invested in this market and it has turned out to be the right move,” he added.

Mega awareness campaigns aside, Jordan is looking to promote its niche visitor experiences spanning cultural, medical, religious and MICE tourism.

The country has a renewed focus on adventure travel, bolstered by the opening last month of the 650km Jordan Trail, a hiking route which passes through 55 towns and villages en route from north to south.

In line with this theme, Jordan is also set to host the first ever ATTA Adventure Travel Trade Conference named AdventureNEXT Near East in early 2017