Jordan keen to develop ‘voluntourism’ offerings
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The Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association (JITOA) has revealed plans to launch a national initiative aimed at boosting ‘voluntourism’ in Jordan.Developed with the support of the European Commission (EU) funded – Jordan Service Modernisation Programme (JSMP)/JEDCO, VolunTourism Jordan will aim to encourage travel professionals to “recognise the importance of creating itineraries that include both volunteering and tourism,” said Nizar Al Adarbeh, executive director of JITOA. In 2010, JITOA invited David Clemmons, founder of VolunTourism.org, to the Hashemite Kingdom in order to conduct a series of workshops on VolunTourism with NGOs, community-based organisations, tour operators, and local, regional, and national governmental figures. The primary focus was to provide a basic introduction to VolunTourism and to answer general questions on the subject.Expanding on these first, successful discussions and interactions on the subject, JITOA has continued to pursue VolunTourism for Jordan and has once again brought Clemmons back to the nation – this time, to concentrate on creating this national initiative: ‘VolunTourism Jordan’. Through a second round of funding support from JSMP/JEDCO, JITOA will be conducting focus groups in June 2011 with university faculty, NGOs, community-based organisations, tour operators, and governmental figures throughout Jordan.These focus groups will provide specific topics to be covered in a series of practicum-seminars to be conducted in the north, the middle, and the southern parts of Jordan.The practicum-seminars will feature lectures as well as hands-on volunteer activities for attendees during the month of July 2011.Joining JITOA staff and Clemmons to facilitate the focus groups is Dr. Jan Louise Jones, graduate coordinator and Travel & Tourism Management Advisor in the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies from the School of Health and Human Services at Southern Connecticut State University.Following a comprehensive review of the information and commentary gathered from the focus groups and practicum-seminars, JITOA will generate a new website – VolunTourism.jo – to be offered in both Arabic and English to serve travelers, tourism professionals, NGOs, governmental officials, and university faculty and students. The official launch of the website will occur following Ramadan 2011.
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