The tourism minister of Jordan is urging people to think beyond Petra and the Dead Sea when they visit the country.
Speaking to Hotelier Middle East, minister of tourism and antiquities, His Excellency Nayef Hmeidi Al-Fayez said: "Jordan is beyond Petra, is beyond the Dead Sea, it's a different experience rich in history and culture."
Keen to emphasise that there is so much more to Jordan, he blames the slow development of a tourism infrastructure internally for the fact that those who book Petra holidays remain unaware of, for example, Jordan's capital city, Amman or coastal Aqaba.
Launching more travel and tourism initiatives, the aim is to make people as familiar with Aqaba and Amman as they are with Petra and the Dead Sea, thus extending the length of their stay.
"A lot of people used to come to Jordan for one day and leave, now they are understanding that Jordan is much more than a one day visit," Al-Fayez said.
One innovative way in which the Jordan Tourism Board is trying to improve awareness is through a unique collaboration with eight travel bloggers, who have been asked to share their experiences of the country, making Jordan a feature destination, visitjordan.com says.
The 'iambassador' scheme will also encourage posts from other travellers and create a "media marketing blitz" via their social media channels, calling for fans of Jordan to promote it.
Al-Fayez is confident for the future. "Tourism in Jordan has tremendous potential. We're moving towards increasing and we've done really well...but we still have a lot of potential in the coming years," he concluded.