The Centre for the Promotion of Imports (CBI), an agency in the Netherlands funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has announced a project to support the Jordanian tourism industry for a period of four years. 

The CBI works worldwide in more than 14 sectors, including the service sectors. In Jordan, the CBI is already active in the garment industry and olive oil sector and is supporting the training of business coaches, according to a statement from the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) . 

The CBI has a mission to support the transition towards inclusive and sustainable economies, read the staetment. This is done by strengthening the sustainability of SMEs and their organisations and encouraging the export of value-added products of SMEs to Europe and to the local region.

The CBI will work together with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities of Jordan, the JTB, the Jordan Society of Tourism and Travel Agents (JSTA), the Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association (​JITOA) and other tourism related organisations. 

The project aims at improvements and changes that can be sustained by the sector itself beyond the end date of the project. This will be done through supporting the creation of a durable service delivery system in the sector, in which local market actors develop and provide services that are used by Jordan tour operators and other local stakeholders. These services will enable them to reach a larger amount of markets with a more diversified product offer whilst adhering to sustainability principles, the statement said. 

One of the core principles of the project is that this sustainable support is done through technical support only and thus is not based on financial support. In this way the project, together with the private sector, undertakes activities and co-invests to create systemic change, according to the statement.

The project will be launched during a webinar on Tuesday. This webinar is for small and medium sized, locally owned inbound tour operators that have an interest in participating in the four-year training project. 

In this webinar, conducted by tourism consultants Marlon van Hee and Adel Amin, attendees will get more information about the CBI and will have the chance to familiarise themselves with the project and how to sign up for participation. The webinar is open for all interested parties.