AMMAN — A conference room at the Kempinski Hotel Ishtar Dead Sea was packed with Jordanian journalists, here for a press conference – held in English and Arabic – with TTAND, G Adventures, the Jordan Tourism Board and Royal Jordanian Airlines about the impact of Canadian tourism on Jordan. Last year, Jordan received just 45,000 Canadian tourists, which the Jordan Tourist Board is hoping to boost in the coming years. But the packed room of journalists also indicated an interest in what this conference of nearly 300 Canadian travel agents would mean for Jordan.
TTAND founder and president Flemming Friisdahl told the press that he faced some pressure to cancel this year’s annual TTAND conference – being held in three locations across Jordan this week, including the Dead Sea, Petra and Aqaba, as part of an itinerary organized by G Adventures – over fear that the conflict in neighbouring Israel would spill into Jordan. “We’re not here because I wanted to help support Jordan, we’re here because I believe Jordan is a safe place to be,” said Friisdahl. “And we looked at the stats.
Every time someone did cancel because a family member thought they shouldn’t go, we had a new person jump on.” Jordan, for its part, bills itself as the Switzerland of the Middle East. After the press conference, TTAND’s gala evening kicked off with cocktails overlooking the Dead Sea, followed by dinner and an awards ceremony.
The event included a speech by His Excellency Tarik A.
