Omar Banihani, Frank LaFleche & Malia Asfour from Visit Jordan with YYZ Travel's Hymie Lebowitz
Simon Vaughan from Outpost &
Marie-France Gravel, Away by TTI Travel
Adventure Center's Julie Ruston &
Sarah Marcantonio
Roshan Matovu & Edith Magwenzi,
Tourcan Vacations
Meaghan Walzak & Stephanie McCann, Intrepid my Adventure Store
Sylvie Wallis, Lisa Hersh, Mario Tavick & Paulo Dias from AMEX Platinum
Outpost's Matt Robinson & Visit Jordan's Malia Asfour present a prize to Olesia Bilyk, Prestige Corporate Incentives (centre)
The Jordan Tourist Board recently joined forces with Outpost Magazine to showcase the country’s amazing culture, scenery and people. The industry event was held in an upscale downtown club, where travel agents were treated to free boozy drinks and delicious appetizers (is there ever a bad time for fancy grilled cheese?) and shown a brand-new video following the Outpost team on an incredible journey through Jordan.
The Visit Jordan team was at the event to meet and chat – including Malia Asfour, Director of the Jordan Tourist Board, North America; industry favourite, Frank LaFleche, Jordan Market Development – Canada and Assistant Marketing Manager, Omar Banihani. This friendly group of people have been showcasing Jordan’s highlights for many years; Malia brought Frank on board in 2005 and he’s been in charge of developing the Canadian market ever since.
Sadly for us, Frank has recently made a move to warmer climes – he’s now located in the small fishing village of Punta Gorda, Florida – but Canada is still his focus, and he’ll continue to provide great service to anyone interested in visiting Jordan. As Malia puts it, “Frank may reside in the south, but he still represents the north - and besides, his wife is there to keep him in line!"
Clearly, Frank and his team have produced results; the Canadian market represented an impressive 6% of travellers to Jordan in 2012. Long considered “The Switzerland of the Middle East,” Jordan is becoming a hot spot for adventure-seekers and Frank and the rest of the team are truly dedicated to working with the trade to ensure clients get the best possible travel experience, whether booking through North American or Jordanian suppliers directly.
North American wholesaler Adventure Center were at the event – their Jordan products range from a cycling tour with Exodus to small group grass-roots tours from adventure specialists Intrepid Travel. Explore Worldwide were also on hand with several different Jordan trips including trekking tours and even 2 family-friendly itineraries. Also at the event were representatives from Tourcan Vacations – the company offers 5 different Jordan itineraries and they also offer competitive airfares – all designed to provide your clients with the easiest way to experience Jordan.
And, experience is what Jordan is all about! The new Outpost video gave the crowd a glimpse of the kinds of experiences their clients could enjoy - through the eyes of Simon Vaughan, Outpost’s entertaining and gregarious Senior Editor and Travel Advisor. He covered such topics as how to sneak past snoozy bats while exploring a cave; “be very, very quiet;” how to appreciate Bedouin tea; “don't think of it as tea - think of it more as a tea-flavoured sugar drink” and on having his eyes covered in traditional Bedouin kohl: “I could tell I looked ravishing by the loud giggling of the hidden women.”
If these are the types of experiences you could see your clients enjoying – or even if they’re looking for a slightly less adventurous itinerary – you should recommend Jordan. Because in Malia Asfour’s words, we should all “Go. Live your list right now; don’t wait” - which seems like excellent advice!
