The Prospects for the Development of Geotourism in the Area of the Wadi Rum Desert

Abstract

The main objective of this study was to present the possibilities of the development of geotourism in the area of the nature reserve and the UNESCO World Heritage. The scope of the research included the directions of the transformation of the existing development of tourism and the use of the Wadi Rum Desert, in the opinion of the local Bedouin population and their activities involving the promotion of geotourism and the increase of the competitiveness in the further development of tourism. The observations and the records of tourism as well as the diagnostic tests among the Bedouin tribes living in the area of human settlements on the desert of Wadi Rum were conducted. According to the local community, geotourism was a very positive factor in the economic development of the rural settlements and the desert region. It was considered that the most important in the development of geotourism was the preservation and strengthening of the geological heritage of the desert as well as its use in tourism. The young people could see the opportunities to create new jobs, and the increase in the economic development of the region. The challenges that geotourism in Jordan must face are primarily to encourage and make tourists interested in the natural and cultural values of the region. Additionally, the coherent platform for the exchange of the experiences between the spheres of science, business, and government as well as non-governmental organizations should be created.

A Vision on a UNESCO Global Geopark at the Southeastern Dead Sea in Jordan—Geosites and Conceptual Approach

“…Thoughtful development of geotourism products in Jordan can significantly aid both the protection of the country's geodiversity and the diversification of the tourism products that Jordan provides. The potential for geotourism development in the Wadi Rum desert and its role in preserving and strengthening the area's geological heritage was already explored [14]. The authors emphasized the necessity of collaboration between players in science, business, government, and non-governmental organisations in the construction of new geotourism sites in Jordan.…”

New approaches to geoconservation in desert environments

“…many countries with desert terrain, the economic value of geotourism is becoming apparent and various new studies have been completed. The case has been made for the Lut Desert and salt lakes (kavirs) of Iran (Maghsoudi et al 2019), the Western Desert of Egypt (Plyusnina et al 2016), various parts of China (Wang et al 2019), Namibia (Downing and Pforr 2021), Jordan (Wojtowicz and Wojtowicz 2016) and North Africa (Errami et al 2015). A parti cularly comprehensive survey of 50 potential sites for geoconservation has been made for Oman (Searle 2014), including the Fahud anticline, which has already been damaged by the excavation of seismic lines (Figure 3).…”

Geoparks and Education: UNESCO Global Geopark Villuercas-Ibores-Jara as a Case Study in Spain

“…Geotourism is the main attraction in geoparks' economic dynamics, evolving and incorporating new features that complement it and convert it into a type of tourism in which cultural aspects are one more enticement [19,[24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]. For example, the study conducted by Mao et al [33] aims to address the perception geotourists have and those aspects or facilities they expect.…”

“…Geoparks are furthermore understood to be assets that contribute to the economic diversification of the areas where they are located, as spaces for generating knowledge and raising the public's environmental awareness [2,19,26,31,45,48,49]. Some of their foremost lines of action, therefore, should be those focusing on research collaborations with universities and research centres, like those in place with schools.…”