Page 29 - virna2017april-june

Porto Vacation
Club Comes to
JORDAN
Evaporating saltwater weaves a protective layer that screens out the
sun’s harmful UVB rays. The mineral content of the water and black
mud are said to be beneficial for a wide range of maladies, and the
atmosphere is low in pollens and other allergens. Little wonder that the
Dead Sea has been a health resort since the time of Herod the Great.
A Sea Change
In recent years, a string of luxury spa resorts has popped up on the
eastern shore in Jordan, most perched 165 feet (50 meters) above the
shoreline. And now, Porto Dead Sea—the latest addition to the port-
folio of family-friendly resorts developed by Porto Vacation Club—has
changed both the landscape and the dynamic of this internationally
renowned destination.
“Porto Dead Sea is the only resort in Jordan located directly on
the sea,” says Nancy Sarwat, CEO of Porto Vacation Club, which was
launched by Amer Group, a respected Egyptian developer of residen-
tial properties, resorts, shopping malls, and restaurants since 1985. In
fact, Porto Dead Sea is a destination in its own right. Sprawling across
198 acres (80 hectares), it is home to four lakes, 20 swimming pools,
15 restaurants and cafes, three malls, a dancing fountain, a spa and
fitness center, an amusement park, and a movie theater complex. Its
four luxury hotels and 11,000 hotel-serviced apartments boost hotel
capacity in Jordan by 25 percent.
Porto World
“Porto Dead Sea is different from other Porto resorts, only in the sense
that it’s our first resort outside Egypt,” Sarwat explains. “But the overall
looks, quality, and spirit is the Porto one that we cherish.”
Porto Vacation Club made its mark in Egypt with mammoth
mixed-used resorts in popular seaside destinations on the Red Sea,
55
PORTO DEAD SEA
54
Mediterranean Sea, and Gulf of Suez. Each property is designed to be
a self-contained village, studded with fancy shopping promenades,
cosmopolitan concert venues, luxury spas, and championship golf
courses. Some include world-class amenities such as a 1,200-berth
marina, an Olympic training site, and a Venice-style lagoon with gondolas.
Porto Dead Sea will also introduce Papa Porto, Porto World’s
popular mascot, to Jordan. A marine character in nautical dress, Papa
Porto roams the grounds of Porto resorts, entertaining children with
stories of his remarkable adventures from all over the world, along with
games, carnivals, and gifts. Papa Porto Carnivals welcome families
throughout the year.
Situated 28 miles (45 kilometers) west of the city of Amman,
Porto Dead Sea is convenient for year-round retreats, as well as family
vacations. Porto Dead Sea’s size and scope, with restaurants, malls,
activities, and live entertainment all on-site, set it apart from the Dead
Sea’s spa-based resorts. It is such a departure from the status quo
that Sarwat expects it to be “the most important project in the next 10
years in Jordan.”
Selling Jordan
While Jordan’s heart-of-the-Middle-East geography continues to pose
challenges for tourism in general, it was a strategic choice for Porto
Vacation Club.
“Jordan is the safest and most secure country in the region,”
Sarwat insists. The Global Terrorism Index 2016 , a worldwide analysis
of the impact of terrorism prepared by the nonprofit think tank Institute
for Economics & Peace, ranked Jordan 58th. The U.S. is ranked 36.
However, despite attempts by the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) to
promote the country as secure, stable, and free of conflict away from
its borders with Syria and Iraq, Jordan’s tourist arrivals dropped from
5.3 million in 2014 to 4.8 million in 2015. That said, it’s important to
note that the number of U.S. visitors grew in 2015 and Jordan recorded
a 16-percent increase in tourists from China.
Residents of the region are most likely to travel within Jordan.
According to Jordan’s Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities, 2.5 million
visitors from Arab countries outnumbered other groups, prompting the
JTB to launch campaigns reaching out to this group in 2016. Its goal: to
promote travel beyond Petra, the ancient Nabataean city chiseled out
of the rose-red sandstone cliffs.
Both a significant historical landmark and a stunning natural
wonder, the iconic Dead Sea is high on the list of places the JTB
recommends tourists visit. The Jordan Rift Valley is a dramatic land-
scape with an other-worldly beauty. The area is believed to have been
home to five biblical cities, including Sodom and Gomorrah. The JTB
also points visitors toward Wadi Rum, with its red-rock cliffs that lure
climbers; the Roman ruins at Jerash; the diverse ecosystems of the
Dana Biosphere Reserve; and dozens more historical and cultural sites
unique to the country.
Pitching a New Vacation Model
The Porto business model has no competition within Jordan, where
Porto Dead Sea targets upscale families who are new to vacation own-
ership. The challenge, Sarwat says, is to gain credibility for vacation
ownership by appealing to the Jordanians’ preference for privacy and
social status to sell a higher-priced product. Porto Dead Sea’s luxury
560-square-foot (52 square meters) apartments are perfect for families
of four. Each unit has a living room, kitchen, master bedroom, and
two bathrooms. All have sea views and are a short walk to the water.
Owners may divide seven-night stays into shorter vacations through-
out the year.
Wide-ranging marketing efforts cover all the bases—from print
and radio ads to social media and live events. “Social media and radio
are the best ways to get us known, and highly influence our sales,”
Sarwat says, pointing to Watts August, a mobile photo-sharing app
popular in the Middle East, and YouTube. Radio ad leads are activated
through the company’s call center.
The Exchange Advantage
Prospects are attracted to the possibility of accessing Porto resorts
in high-demand destinations in Egypt, as well as to the exchange
opportunities available worldwide through Interval International.
“Having Interval International as a vacation exchange partner is a
strategic part of Porto Vacation Club’s plans for growth,” Sarwat says.
“Interval has lots of integrity in the market. It’s not about numbers—it’s
all about quality of affiliations, which helps during the sales process.
Our partner relationship goes back more than six years, and all Porto
Vacation Club resorts are affiliated with Interval International.”
Porto Vacation Club has established momentum equal to many
established international vacation clubs—a decided advantage when it
comes to future growth within Egypt, as well as in other carefully chosen
locations that will soon include Agadir, Morocco, on the Atlantic Coast.
“Amer Group has wowed the Egyptian market with its Porto World
concept for over a decade. We share in their excitement of adding the
first Porto resort in Jordan to Interval’s worldwide vacation exchange
network,” says Darren Ettridge, Interval’s senior vice president of resort
sales and business development for Europe, Middle East, Africa, and
Asia. “Jordan is a spectacular new frontier we’re confident is both safe
and welcoming to Interval members.”
Porto Dead Sea
Developer: Amer Group: Mansour Amer, chairman; Omar Amer, vice chairman
and chief business development officer
Location: Jordan
Product: 30-year right-to-use
Price: From US$7,065 (US$12,057 for a two-week package)
Website: amer-group.com, portogroup.com/en/Project/Porto-Dead-Sea
FAST FACTS
There’s no place quite like it anywhere else in the
world. A 42-mile-long (68 kilometers) landlocked
lake nearly 10 times saltier than the ocean, the Dead
Sea rests in a deep pocket of the Jordan Rift Valley.
Swimmers bob on its surface 1,388 feet (423 meters)
below sea level, where the climate is warm and dry,
with a reliable 330 days of sun a year.
BY JOYCE HADLEY COPELAND