Our industry is resolute when it comes to making resolutions
Ian Stalker
It’s the new year and with that Travel Courier has some new New Year’s resolutions to share with our readers.
Clearly those who work in travel like to join those in other segments of the population in making resolutions.
Uncover meaningful travel in Jordan
Malia Asfour, Jordan Tourism Board North America
Malia Asfour has resolved to get the word out about an interesting side of Jordan that may not have the means to do it on its own during these tough tourism times.
“I choose Meaningful Travel and the Meaningful Travel Map of Jordan because the lack of tourism dollars has greatly impacted local communities,” says Asfour, who oversees the Jordan Tourism Board North America. “The Meaningful Travel Map of Jordan was launched in 2018 with Tourism Cares with the purpose of connecting travellers with social enterprises that can give a traveler local, sustainable and authentic experiences that make a difference to both the community and the traveler. It is where travellers can see how their money is being spent as a force for good. With the launch of the Meaningful Travel Map, many Canadian operators have added an extra night’s stay in Jordan to ensure that their travellers are able to visit these enterprises.”
Jordan has a number of famed attractions, such as the archeological sites of Petra and Jerash, but Asfour says there are many other intriguing sites that fly under the radar.
“There are so many interesting sides to Jordan that tourists and the travel industry is unaware of, there are hidden gems all over the country to be discovered, along with the thousands of archeological sites,” she reports. “I believe the biggest gem is the Jordanian people; Bedouin hospitality is world renowned but to experience it is something else. The kindness and generosity that visitors experience from the elders to the kids in communities is infectious and that is what most visitors take back with them when they return home. I personally love taking my kids to visit the Al Ma’wa Nature reserve www.almawajordan.org located just outside of Jerash and close to Souf, where you can have one of the Meaningful Travel Map experiences. Al Ma’wa is a nature reserve where wild animals that have been rescued and cannot be sent back to their country of origin or released in the wild have a home. It is a great place to see wild animals up close and learn about rehabilitation and protection. I also enjoy visiting the desert castles where everyone has a different story and, in the North, Umm el-Jimal is an incredible Byzantine town where the Umm el-Jimal Project has an incredible sustainable tourism and community development project.
“I also love visiting Um Qais in the northern parts of Jordan as there are so many new activities there, as well as Feynan in the southern parts of Jordan,” she continues. “The Feynan Eco-Lodge is simply spectacular and the local experiences at Feynan are incredible for all ages.”
Meanwhile, Asfour wants to make it clear that she realizes Petra is a wonderful site but that it is far from being the country’s only intriguing tourism draw.
“Petra is an incredible place to visit, and what a lot of travellers forget is how much there is to do and see in Petra,” she states. “Although most visitors only touch the surface and only visit the Treasury there are is so much more to explore in and around Petra. The High Place of Sacrifice, The Monestary, Heron’s Tomb are examples of what visitors (often) miss seeing and a minimum of a 3 days is needed to get immersed into what Petra has to offer. The nearby Ammarin Bedouin Camp also part of the Meaningful Travel Map, is a great place for a local experience with the Ammarin tribe that has inhabited the region for centuries. There is more to Jordan than just Petra, there are so many incredible sites and places to visit and a diversity of experiences for every age. So, yes, Petra may be someone’s main reason to visit Jordan, however, there is so much more that even two weeks in Jordan can just help you scratch the surface.”
Get philosophical in Flanders
Marco Frank, VISITFLANDERS
Marco Frank has entered 2021 totally committed to a quality-of-tourism-experience philosophy.
Frank is with VISITFLANDERS, which is determined that those visiting the region — which includes such cities as Brussels, Antwerp and Bruges — have a rewarding vacation.
“With the global pandemic still having a firm grip on the world, the question is clearly focused on a speedy recovery of tourism,” he says. “However, contrary to what someone might believe, we will continue with the promotion of our ‘Travel to Tomorrow’ philosophy to place an emphasis on the quality of the experience, versus pure numbers of arrivals and overnights. It is clear that tourism, as we have known it, needs to go through a systematic transformation to ensure a balance of the visitor experience, local residents and entrepreneurs. A destination can only thrive, and visitors will only return, if there is a harmonic balance of these goals.
VISITFLANDERS has taken a conscious approach to invest in quality experiences and infrastructure developments that will ensure a high-quality experience for our guests and a prospering local tourism industry. We want travel agents to know that they can count on our continued support. Their services are invaluable to our destination and its post-pandemic recovery.”
Frank says there’s plenty of opportunity for visitors to have a great stay in Flanders, which has many tourism attributes.
“There are a number of interesting points that deserve more attention,” he continues. “I will focus on three major ones. First, the geography of Flanders. Flanders is truly in the heart of Europe. Not only is it the political center of Europe, but also its central geographic location makes it ideal to be included as an essential element on any European itinerary. Major metropolitan centers in neighbouring countries are less than two hours away by train. You can reach Paris in 1hour and 22 minutes, Cologne in 1hour and 40 minutes and Amsterdam and London in just 1hour and 50 minutes. This makes Flanders the ideal starting point for any multi-destination European vacation.
“The second interesting point is the incredible value that Flanders offers to our guests. Visitors will find the cost of living, prices for meals and other travel related expenses are more favourable when compared to other destinations in Europe. Your dollar will go a long way in Flanders.
“Last, but not least important, are off-the-beaten path experiences. Traditionally, Flemish cities have attracted the majority of international visitors. Besides the traditional cities, the countryside offers a wealth of experiences for nature, hiking, and cycling enthusiasts. Superb restaurants, fairytale villages and a great outdoors will invite the natural curious traveller.”
Meanwhile, Frank, like everyone else in tourism, is looking forward to the day when coronavirus is nothing more than a distant memory.
“It is not a secret that 2020 was the most challenging year for tourism in recent memory,” he notes. “The hope is that the rollout of the vaccine will occur across the globe without many delays in 2021. Vaccinations combined with other measures will hopefully restore confidence in international travel. 2021 will certainly be a transition year with only some of the tourism arrivals recovering. We continue to work on the long-term survival of our local tourism industry through various measures to ensure that the local sector can thrive again and provide the unique experiences that travel agents are seeking to provide to their sophisticated clients.”
Promoting post-covid travel and tourism
Lisa Lau, Okushu Tours
Lisa Lau is understandably looking forward to carrying out her New Year’s resolution.
“My New Year’s resolution is to become an ambassador to promote post-covid travel and tourism — even though I know that my voice is just one small voice,” says Okushu Tours’ Lau. “The Covid-19 pandemic is not just only making my business suffer, but also the whole industry overall. During the lockdown, I asked myself, ‘What other industry could I do if I was no longer in this travel business?’ After deep thought, my answer was ‘No, I do not find any industry that I enjoy doing.’ I know that travelling is still in my blood and something that I do not want to give up now. I guess that this is my calling to voice out for my industry, especially when selling travel is extremely hard at this moment. I will try to do whatever I can to make travellers have the confidence to travel again and to assist my travel agent fellows to get themselves ready when the travel and tour business picks up. Of course, it helps my business too.”
Lau has decided there are a number of things she can now do to boost tourism.
Photo courtesy Cait Ellis.
“I will be constantly reminding people about the benefits of travelling and having a vacation,” she reports. “Telling them what they should expect about travel in 2021. They should expect a higher hygiene standard at hotels, much safer and cleaner air and ground transportation overall. When practicing social distancing everywhere, the less-crowded sightseeing attractions will bring them ( tourists) more joy during the visits. From the tour operators’ side, like what Okushu Tours is doing, we make more safe and wellness-oriented trips available. The country that they visit will be delighted with their arrival, and more welcoming smiles are waiting for them. So in 2021, there will be more enjoyable travel and tour experiences awaiting in an even better way.
“Numerous studies also show that taking vacations and travelling can benefit one’s well-being in many ways and even simply planning a trip can help boost happiness and alleviate stress. So I believe keeping them thinking about travel and planning about going on one of the tours is far more important than before.”
Lau promises to work closely with travel agents, in part by conducting more destination training. Okushu Tours has been conducting travel agent virtual fam tours to South America and Asia, one a virtual tour in Seoul and another a tour in Lima with agents. “I hope that through these series of live virtual tours, our travel agent fellows have an opportunity to learn something about the destinations while they can relieve some lockdown stress and enjoy the industry gathering moments,” Lau says.
Lau’s second New Year’s resolution is to keep exploring world cuisine in her kitchen and while travelling if she has the opportunity. “It is simply that I am a foodie traveller and I like to explore any culinary element and give my taste buds adventures at any place I visit.”
Meanwhile, she’s determined to carry out her resolutions.
“I came up with lots of personal resolution ideas in the past, some went well, and some only being kept for a short period,” she reports. “But this time is different. I will treat this New Year’s resolution as a goal — a travel industry resilience goal. And here I urge every travel industry fellow to join me to become an ambassador to promote travel and tourism together in 2021.”
