For centuries, Jordan has been one of the Holy Land’s most revered destinations. Home to places like Mount Nebo, Petra and Bethany Beyond the Jordan, the contemporary country is the eastern part of the Holy Land and holds many of the historic sites most cherished by faith-based travel groups.
The Jordan Tourism Board, Royal Jordanian Airlines and The Group Travel Leader Inc. are partnering to take a select group of qualified travel planners to Jordan October 18-25 for an in-depth site inspection tour of this remarkable country. Mac Lacy, publisher of Going On Faith, will accompany the group and publish feature articles about the trip afterward.
The trip is being offered exclusively to readers of the magazines published by The Group Travel Leader Inc., which includes Going On Faith. The company’s magazines reach more than 26,000 qualified travel planners each month.
“Jordan is a natural destination for religious and affinity groups,” said Malia Asfour, the director of the Jordan Tourism Board, North America. “This inspection tour will help faith-based and affinity travel planners in The Group Travel Leader Inc.’s readerships to personally discover and experience our hospitality and holy sites. By seeing these and other world heritage sites like Petra and the Dead Sea, they will be equipped to plan unforgettable tours to Jordan with authentic experiences for their members.”
“Royal Jordanian Airlines has been flying between North America and Jordan for more than 37 years, carrying countless pilgrims to the Holy Land,” said Anwar Atalla, marketing chief of the commercial department at Royal Jordanian Airlines. “We are proud of our role and are committed to continuing our tradition of helping people visit the biblical lands at the root of their faith and spirituality.”
“I have long wanted to travel to Jordan myself,” said Lacy. “I have traveled to other sites in the Holy Land, and visiting Jordan offers me a broadened knowledge of this spiritually significant part of the world. I look forward to sharing this experience with my fellow travelers and with our 6,000 faith-based travel planner readers as well. They have the potential to bring their groups back to Jordan for years to come.”
The itinerary for this site inspection trip includes but is not limited to the following:
• Mount Nebo, where Scripture says Moses gazed across to the Promised Land
• Bethany Beyond the Jordan, considered to be the site of Jesus’ baptism
• Petra, the rose-red rock city that is one of the new Seven Wonders of the World
• The Dead Sea
Seating is limited, and interested travel planners should visit the website www.myjordanjourney.com right away to learn more about this opportunity. Each interested planner will be asked to complete a survey online that will help to define the participating group and its travel patterns. Qualified participants will pay a $475 registration fee to attend the site inspection trip. The tour includes round-trip airfare to Jordan from Chicago-O’Hare (ORD) and all hotels, meals, transportation and ground costs.
