Int’l, Jordanian youth to embark on journey to uncover Kingdom’s hidden treasures

AMMAN — The multinational youth organisation AIESEC on Thursday launched its “Discover Jordan” project, which seeks to promote tourism in the Kingdom through national and international volunteerism, in collaboration with USAID YouthPower.

During the launch ceremony, held at Al Hussein Cultural Centre, USAID representative Courtney Babcock voiced the US agency’s commitment to empowering the Kingdom’s tourism sector via its youth. 

Through Discover Jordan, 20 Jordanian and 20 international youth will travel around Jordan together to explore its historical, geographical, cultural and traditional riches, Babcock said.

Participants will display their journeys through social media campaigns to promote their discoveries in the Kingdom to a worldwide audience, she added.

Discover Jordan’s organising committee president Farah Abu Hmaidan said that there are over 2,000 “interesting, unknown sites” in Jordan waiting to be introduced to the world through the project.

The project also aims to meet UN’s eighth Sustainable Development Goal of decent work and economic growth by promoting sustainable tourism to create jobs and increase national revenues, Abu Hmaidan added.

Rudaina Haddad, CEO and founder of BookAgri platform, said that the platform will sponsor three destinations for Discover Jordan’s volunteers: Salt, Jerash and Ajloun. 

BookAgri aims at engaging local farmers in the tourism industry, enabling tourists to interact with the local community and helping visitors experience the “genuine Jordanian culture”, Haddad said.

During the event, President of AIESEC in Jordan Zakaria Kwyasse shed light on the Youth Speak Survey, which raises the voices of youth by recording their goals, ambitions, obstacles and perspectives for the future, urging public participation.

Throughout the ceremony, international participants presented information about the destinations, food, activities and local communities of their countries. Showcasing an array of cultures, the international volunteers shared their traditional foods with attendees.