JTBNA participated in the Educational Travel Conference (ETC), February 19-22, 2007. ETC is an educational conference for the non-profit community. JTBNA participated at the conference with a keynote address as well as contributing in different panels and discussions.

Attended by more than 500 travel planners, tour operators, destinations and suppliers (from alumni associations, universities, and art and natural history museums) the ETC is the only forum of its kind in the business of experiential learning through travel. JTBNA’s participation in ETC was directed to increase awareness of the educational/ special interest market on the cross cultural experience in Jordan. The conference also created an opportunity to establish more contacts and enrich the current database with categorized potential visitors and trip organizers. The conference was a platform for increased inquiries about Jordan which hopefully will become potential visitors. Educational travel facilitates deeper, more enduring connections and understanding between travelers and the communities they visit through strong interpretation, experiential programming, and meaningful engagement.

JTBNA exhibited and sponsored a key note address, and also spoke on many different panels at the conference. Among them was the 4th Annual Voluntourism Forum: The Power of Engagement, where Ms. Malia Asfour, Director of JTBNA gave a presentation on the new concept of voluntourism. Experts from the field where present at the session and helped provide more insight on the demand and needs of this new concept.

In addition, JTBNA co-sponsored the US Tour Operator Senior Management Breakfast Roundtables, which is a breakfast where only the Tour Operator CEO’s and ground operators from Jordan and Thailand where invited to give them an opportunity to network with each other and with industry experts Peter Yesawich and Peter Greenberg .

JTBNA was also the moderator and sponsor of the morning keynote by Peter Yesawich - Emerging Lifestyles and Travel Trends: Implications for Future Marketing Practice. A film on Jordan was featured and a slide show was running during gap screens in Peter Yesawich’s presentation.