‘Jordan ranks second in Middle East in number of meetings held in 2018’

AMMAN — Jordan is officially the second highest-ranking country in the Middle East after the United Arab Emirates in the number of international association meetings held in 2018, according to the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA).

This success follows a series of key decisions made by the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) to support the meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) sector, a JTB statement said.

This new focus on the sector was emphasised with the launch of the Convention Bureau as a separate division in 2017 through support from the USAID Building Economic Sustainability through Tourism project.

The Convention Bureau’s main mission is to attract, facilitate and support international MICE organisers in planning their next successful event.

The bureau represents the destination as a whole and leads the process of attracting international conventions and events to the country.

ICCA said that Jordan ranked second in the Middle East after the United Arab Emirates for hosting 22 international association meetings, with a percentage increase of over 100 per cent.

“The bureau has worked with countless associations producing bids, providing event support and subventions, establishing solid partnerships and connections, pushing the MICE industry forward and onward. These efforts have paid off tremendously with this new positioning,” the JTB statement said.

Jordan ranked fourth amongst countries in the MENA region, for the total number of international association meetings held in 2018. As for Amman, the city that started with a modest three international conferences in 2014 has seen the fastest growth amongst all cities in the MENA region, hosting a total of 19 conferences in 2018. JTB Managing Director Abed Al Razzaq Arabiyat was quoted in the statement as saying: “Jordan’s presence as a strong MICE destination is growing and developing and the ICCA rankings only reinforce this fact. This is merely a stepping stone for further progress and achievements.”