AMMAN: From the guesthouse roof, the panorama takes in three countries, meandering from the ruins of ancient Gadara on a Jordanian hilltop, over the Sea of Galilee with the city of Nazareth visible in the distance, and across green fields to the Golan Heights.
It’s one of the main reasons visitors make their way up to the small village of Umm Qais in north Jordan, which is also home to one of the Decapolis cities of ancient Rome.
Yet few stay overnight and the village derives little profit from those coming to take in its extraordinary sites. Most tourists dash up on a day trip from Amman before making their way down to Petra, according to Roddy Boyle, Lodge Manager at Beit Al Baraka guesthouse.
“The destinations in the south (Petra, Aqaba, the Dead Sea) are more publicized, but Umm Qais is quite unique, there’s nothing like it in Jordan,” said Boyle, who has spent a year living among the community here and experiencing Jordanian hospitality firsthand.
Visitors planning to take in Jordan’s Roman ruins would more likely head to Jerash just outside Amman, rather than making the 90-minute drive up to Umm Qais in the north, put off perhaps by its proximity to the border with Syria.
There seemed little call for tourist accommodation in the village, but Baraka, the sustainable tourism company behind Beit Al Baraka guesthouse, is determined to push Umm Qais higher up the visitor agenda and harness the area’s tourism potential for the benefit of the local community.
“By creating a cluster of tourism experiences, we have been able to increase the length of stay of visitors in Umm Qais from an average of two hours to two days,” said Muna Haddad, Managing Director at Baraka.
“The benefit goes both ways,” she added, with travelers gaining an opportunity to interact with local Jordanians while contributing to the creation of much-needed jobs in the area.
So far, the project has impacted 38 families, who have taken up employment as guides, cooks and farmers on activities from hiking and cycling to bee-keeping and camping.
The project feeds into the 2017-2021 National Tourism Strategy, which outlines Jordan’s aims to attract more tourists to the country and increase the sector’s revenues while responding to the requirements of each governorate to drive growth at the local level.
Regional turmoil has hit Jordan’s tourism industry hard in recent years, but the industry is showing signs of recovery. Ministry of Tourism figures indicated a 10.5 percent increase in the first five months of 2017 compared to the same period last year.
With tourism revenues up 14.5 percent in the first half of 2017, buoyed by new growth markets, including North America and Europe, Jordan is positioning itself for a comeback, promoting lesser-known sights alongside the headline attractions.
In particular, the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) is developing a new adventure tourism strategy to promote the country as a destination for climbing, hiking, diving, canyoneering and other outdoor pursuits.
“We’re trying to break the stereotype that equates Jordan with Bedouin tribes, Petra and deserts,” said Hakim Ahmad Al-Tamimi, head of the Adventure Tourism Department at JTB. The focus now, he said, is on “mountains, greenery and waterfalls.”
The department is also publicizing existing action-adventure events, such as the annual Dead to Red race, a 242-kilometer relay running from the Dead Sea to the Red Sea in Aqaba, and the Full Moon Marathon in Wadi Rum, one of Jordan’s most spectacular landscapes,
A grant has also been given to the Jordan Trail Association (JTA) to market a new 400-mile hiking route that runs from the top of the country to the bottom.
“It’s a great way to experience the real Jordan,” said Bashir Daoud, General Manager at the Jordan Trail Association. The route passes through 52 local villages and organisers are working to engage communities with homestays and cooking experiences among other tourism-related enterprises.
“This is the other side of tourism that you don’t get to see. Visitors can go in and interact directly with locals, meet Bedouin people and see a different way of life,” Daoud added.
JTA is also working with The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) in Jordan to pass through a greater number of national parks and “show tourists more of Jordan’s best side.”
To illustrate the scope of Jordan’s unsung attractions, JTB recently launched a series of promotional videos that take viewers on hikes through deep desert canyons, abseiling down 100-foot waterfalls, climbing to the summits of Wadi Rum peaks and winding along the forest trails of verdant Ajloun in the north.
The campaign taps into a broader global trend towards adventure tourism, with Middle East countries like Jordan poised to take advantage of people’s desire to head off the beaten track in lesser-known locations.
“The demand for experiential and meaningful travel is growing, and Jordan is at the forefront of this movement,” said Haddad.
Jordan attracts tourists with the promise of adventure
Jordan attracts tourists with the promise of adventure
How AI and financial literacy are redefining the Saudi workforce
- Preparing people capable of navigating money and machines with confidence
ALKHOBAR: Saudi Arabia’s workforce is entering a transformative phase where digital fluency meets financial empowerment.
As Vision 2030 drives economic diversification, experts emphasize that the Kingdom’s most valuable asset is not just technology—but people capable of navigating both money and machines with confidence.
For Shereen Tawfiq, co-founder and CEO of Balinca, financial literacy is far from a soft skill. It is a cornerstone of national growth. Her company trains individuals and organizations through gamified simulations that teach financial logic, risk assessment, and strategic decision-making—skills she calls “the true language of empowerment.”
“Our projection builds on the untapped potential of Saudi women as entrepreneurs and investors,” she said. “If even 10–15 percent of women-led SMEs evolve into growth ventures over the next five years, this could inject $50–$70 billion into GDP through new job creation, capital flows, and innovation.”
Tawfiq, one of the first Saudi women to work in banking and later an adviser to the Ministry of Economy and Planning on private sector development, helped design early frameworks for the Kingdom’s venture-capital ecosystem—a transformation she describes as “a national case study in ambition.”
“Back in 2015, I proposed a 15-year roadmap to build the PE and VC market,” she recalled. “The minister told me, ‘you’re not ambitious enough, make it happen in five.’” Within years, Saudi Arabia had a thriving investment ecosystem supporting startups and non-oil growth.
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At Balinca, Tawfiq replaces theory with immersion. Participants make business decisions in interactive simulations and immediately see their financial impact.
“Balinca teaches finance by hacking the brain, not just feeding information,” she said. “Our simulations create what we call a ‘business gut feeling’—an intuitive grasp of finance that traditional training or even AI platforms can’t replicate.”
While AI can personalize lessons, she believes behavioral learning still requires human experience.
“AI can democratize access,” she said, “but judgment, ethics, and financial reasoning still depend on people. We train learners to use AI as a co-pilot, not a crutch.”
Her work aligns with a broader national agenda. The Financial Sector Development Program and Al Tamayyuz Academy are part of Vision 2030’s effort to elevate financial acumen across industries. “In Saudi Arabia, financial literacy is a national project,” she said. “When every sector thinks like a business, the nation gains stability.”
Jonathan Holmes, managing director for Korn Ferry Middle East, sees Saudi Arabia’s digital transformation producing a new generation of leaders—agile, data-literate, and unafraid of disruption.
“What we’re seeing in the Saudi market is that AI is tied directly to the nation’s economic growth story,” Holmes told Arab News. “Unlike in many Western markets where AI is viewed as a threat, here it’s seen as a catalyst for progress.”
Holmes noted that Vision 2030 and the national AI strategy are producing “younger, more dynamic, and more tech-fluent” executives who lead with speed and adaptability. Korn Ferry’s CEO Tracker Report highlighted a notable rise in first-time CEO appointments in Saudi Arabia’s listed firms, signaling deliberate generational renewal.
Korn Ferry research identifies six traits for AI-ready leadership: sustaining vision, decisive action, scaling for impact, continuous learning, addressing fear, and pushing beyond early success.
“Leading in an AI-driven world is ultimately about leading people,” Holmes said. “The most effective leaders create clarity amid ambiguity and show that AI’s true power lies in partnership, not replacement.”
He believes Saudi Arabia’s young workforce is uniquely positioned to model that balance. “The organizations that succeed are those that anchor AI initiatives to business outcomes, invest in upskiling, and move quickly from pilots to enterprise-wide adoption,” he added.
DID YOU KNOW?
• Saudi women-led SMEs could add $50–$70 billion to GDP over five years if 10–15% evolve into growth ventures.
• AI in Saudi Arabia is seen as a catalyst for progress, unlike in many Western markets where it is often viewed as a threat.
• Saudi Arabia is adopting skills-based models, matching employees to projects rather than fixed roles, making flexibility the new currency of success.
The convergence of Tawfiq’s financial empowerment approach and Holmes’s AI leadership vision points to one central truth: the Kingdom’s greatest strategic advantage lies in human capital that can think analytically and act ethically.
“Financial literacy builds confidence and credibility,” Tawfiq said. “It transforms participants from operators into leaders.” Holmes echoes this sentiment: “Technical skills matter, but the ability to learn, unlearn, and scale impact is what defines true readiness.”
As organizations adopt skills-based models that match employees to projects rather than fixed job titles, flexibility is becoming the new currency of success. Saudi Arabia’s workforce revolution is as much cultural as it is technological, proving that progress moves fastest when inclusion and innovation advance together.
Holmes sees this as the Kingdom’s defining opportunity. “Saudi Arabia can lead global workforce transformation by showing how technology and people thrive together,” he said.
Tawfiq applies the same principle to finance. “Financial confidence grows from dialogue,” she said. “The more women talk about money, valuations, and investment, the more they’ll see themselves as decision-makers shaping the economy.”
Together, their visions outline a future where leaders are inclusive, data-literate, and AI-confident—a model that may soon define the global standard for workforce transformation under Vision 2030.
