PRLog (Press Release) -
Mar 22, 2010 -
JITOA held its Ordinary General Assembly Meeting on Sunday the 28th February 2010 at the Amman Marriott Hotel.
The meeting was chaired by Mr. Munir Nassar, on behalf of the association’
s chairman, with the presence of, Mr. Nizar Al Adarbeh, JITOA CEO. Also, attending the meeting were the board members and the legal financial auditor of the Association.
The Assembly resulted in the approval of the Association’
s financial statements for the year 2009 and the re-election of 'Elias Nino Co.' as auditors for the year 2010.
The General Assembly re-elected its board of directors as follows:
Chairman; Mr. Mohammad Samih
Vice-Chairman;
Mr. Eid Nawafleh
Secretary General; Mr. Mohannad Malhas and spokesperson
Treasurer; Mr. Hanna Sawalha
Board Member; Mr. Munir Nassar
Board Member; Mr. Nabih Riyal
Board Member; Mr. Fadi Abu Areish
JITOA CEO, represented the association’
s major achievements, and showcased the projects and initiatives organized during 2009. Including highlight on the major advocacy issues discussed with the governmental bodies during the last year, which helps in developing a better business environment for the Jordan Tourism sector. Also, the presentation included some of the success stories in launching several projects and initiatives, such as, “Don’t Mess with Nature” Initiative for anti-littering awareness at major touristic sites, in addition to the “Voluntourism Project” phaseI for introducing the Voluntourism trend as a new niche market in Jordan tourism industry. Moreover, there was a review on the training and educational programs conducted in 2009, of which, Tourism tailored training programs for developing staff soft skills and according to the sector needs, like English language learning and business writing and communication skills. As well as offering two professional certifications through the George Washington University; “Event Management Certificate Program (EMP)”, and “Destination Management Certificate Program (DMC)”.
Furthermore, JITOA signed MOU with the Hashemite University for implementing the first pilot “Tourism Management Internship Program” initiated to address the human resource needs of the tourism sector in Jordan.
The Assembly approved the Board of Director’s Annual Report 2009, and future plans and acquitted the former board for the year 2008-2009.
The first board meeting was held the next day at JITOA premises, which resulted in identifying the role and position of each board member, and assigning the required tasks. They discussed some major topics in addition to setting clear guidelines of the association’
s policy, and how to enforce relations with governmental and non-governmental organizations in the tourism sector. This will be resembled in maintaining communications with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities in all issues, in addition to the emphasis on working in parallel with the Jordan Society for Tourism and Travel Agents (JSTTA) to tackle the various challenges of the industry, not to mention the importance of cooperation with the Jordan Tourism Board. This is in the aim to raise Jordan's tourism sector which will result in optimizing tourism’s overall contribution to Jordan economic development.
The Board will develop a new strategic plan and identify the trends for the coming years to supplement the efforts of the former board. And they will set new plans for the Association’
s future activities, taking into consideration the competitive positioning of Jordan as touristic destination in the region and in line with the new National Tourism Strategy new 2010 -2014, and focusing on cooperation between the public and the private sectors for sustainable development and in collaboration with the Jordan Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
The ceremony concluded with distribution of appreciation awards to a group of JITOA associate members for their support during 2009, and they are: Marriott Hotels-Jordan, Four Seasons Hotel, Grand Hyatt Hotel, JETT Jordan Express Tourist Transportation Co., Philadelphia Tourist Transportation Co., and PRO4 total Events Solutions.
JITOA has 62 members, of which 38 Inbound Tour Operators and the rest comprise of associate and individual members from hotels, tourist transport companies, event management companies, in addition to tour guides and instructors and trainers from universities and educational institutes. Recent statistics showed that JITOA members contribute to more than %75 of the packaged tours coming to Jordan.
The Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association is a voluntary-membership organization comprised of active tour operator members and associate members (including hotels and hotel chains, Event Management Companies, NGO’s, Buss Companies, educators, tour guides and others) with an interest in improving the quality of the visitor’s experience in Jordan. JITOA and its membership are actively committed to raising the standards of the industry as a whole through the spread of Codes of Conduct, a Code of Ethics and by providing continuing education and advocacy support to the industry.
