Business retreats in JordanCategory: Business
Article added by: marwan Asmar
Corporate tourism is one of the main strands of business innovation in Jordan. A business retreat in one of the Kingdom's peak high resorts maybe ideal.
Businessmen and corporate executives still think of meetings and business conferences in the traditional settings in hotels and/or conferences centers, in air-conditioned rooms with official seatings and roundtables.
They have not yet gone beyond the traditional, of rug sacks, heavy boots and jeans and sleeping it rough in the wilds.
It is here where tour operators can make a difference in advising, pushing executives and managers to hold their meetings and events in remote and secluded areas generating business growth and generally rubbing shoulders.
"The idea is great for local and international corporate executives and Jordan is ideal for such a destination because of the many exotic places in the Kingdom, says Executive Director of the Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association Ahmad El Bashiti.
Retreats are still new in Jordan, and people think of them in terms of going somewhere and shutting yourself away from the world. But retreats are positive, he adds.
Company executives and owners can discuss their business in knew isolated surroundings and settings, in tents with sand under their feet while enjoying the aura of exploring some of Jordan's unique sights.
"Some ruggedness is always good to stimulate the adrenalin and get the mind thinking about new business leads and thus generate income and profit," he adds.
The idea needs to be pushed, if not for local clients then for the international market because global companies and executives are used to the idea of business travel with adventure and therefore are more likely to entertain it.
Local tour operators say they long suggested the idea for corporate and business travel in remote places and are actively advocating it. Tourism experts believe it all lies in the marketing of the idea as good sense, with the view that business adventure is still to take root. But certainly no shortage of places to go to in the country, from the north like Ajloun and Pella to Jeresh and down to the deserts of Wadi Rum.
However, in order to sell the business retreat idea tour operators must have a reasonable infrastructure in the different places of the country as well as the logistics of taking them to remote places like the deserts of Wadi Rum, ensuring a reasonable degree of amenities as these are business retreats, and bringing the different parties back either to the cities or the international airports.
"For one thing the idea of leaving the office is a change in itself, for another bringing people, office colleagues, managers and directors to new surroundings always brings out the best in them," says one local tour operator who is toying with the idea, but feels that local businesses are yet to become more adventurous.
El Bashiti says it’s up to tour operators to sell the idea. "And if the tour operator members are to sell the different areas in Jordan, then they must experience such retreats themselves to get the feel of the different places to be able to market them to different clients."
Many executives on the international level especially would find spending a couple of days in Wadi Rum or Dana for that matter, and away from the routine of the office and the boardroom as invigorating.
Wadi Rum is one place, a desert environs, but Jordan has many nature reserves and isolated lodges in isolated areas like the newly rebuilt Azraq Lodge, a haven for the peace and quite, Dana, or Wadi Finan.
These are places where small conferences can easily be held and productive business made. While critics may scoff on the idea, others may strongly suggest that this may be another way of intermarrying nature with business.
Mazen Kawar of Petra Tours in Amman says as the idea gains greater ground and more business men travel to these remote areas, they become closer to nature and understand who there is a need to protect the environs through better business practice by adopting such concepts as eco-tourism and getting the benefit of both world.
Posted By: marwan Asmar
Web: http://www.petratours.com
Contact: e-mail
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