UMM QAIS
JORDAN
2022
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The revival of a traditional village
The village enjoys unique touristic features, including picturesque scenery whereby the village is part of the Al Yarmouk Nature Reserve, which is the last natural extension of the deciduous oak forest, the national tree of Jordan. Additionally, the village possesses many perennial trees and rare forms of vegetation.
It is rich in cultural heritage due to the presence of the Roman city of Gadara and is one of the ten cities of the Decapolis, which has embraced the Ottoman heritage village.
The village has been innovatively revived through the traditional rehabilitation and repurposing of buildings for tourism purposes. To scale up the adventure tourism experience, the village is developing the Aqueduct Tunnel. The Aqueduct is designed to be the longest water tunnel in the world with a length of 164 km that connects Southern Syria to the archaeological site of Umm Qais.
HIGHLIGHTS
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Making the village accessible
The village promotes the social inclusion of people with disabilities through the rehabilitation and development of accessible infrastructure and by implementing several local initiatives and policies, such as Al-Hadab Down Syndrome Initiative and Gadara initiative. Additionally, this provides them with the opportunity and required facilities to produce and sell crafts and traditional products. The village community has also implemented a range of other initiatives to facilitate the access of disabled people in touristic and agricultural sites by ensuring the implementation of accessible tourism requirements in the local buildings.
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Local community at the forefront
The village has initiated small and medium production projects that are managed by the local community. The most prominent of which are a three-star restaurant, a cafe, a cafeteria which serves popular traditional meals, and 16 kiosks for the sale of traditional handicrafts.
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The fundamental role of women
Women play a leading role in the village’s tourism and business sectors. Additionally, the creation of many women-led initiatives has provided employment opportunities for women in the production and marketing of handicrafts and traditional foods, as well as the restoration processes. Some vital initiatives include the introduction of production kitchens and the Yarmouk Women’s Handicrafts Initiative.
