Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Under the slogan “Tourism Enriches our Lives”, the national painting competition is calling all school students in Jordan to take part by drawing a picture that represents how tourism enriches their lives. The competition seeks to increase awareness of the importance of tourism to our lives and to highlight the sector as an employer of first choice. The competition is being held for the third consecutive year and is led by the Ministry of Tourism & Antiquities (MoTA) and the USAID/Jordan Tourism Development Project II in cooperation with the Ministry of Education. This year’s competition is sponsored by the telecom operator Umniah.

“The previous successes of this competition have prompted us to repeat it and extend the reach to more students around the Kingdom. We aim to encourage local talent and promote the benefits of the sector by inviting school students to express how tourism enriches their lives through painting,” said Ibrahim Osta, USAID/Jordan Tourism Development Project II Chief of Party.

Commenting on the sponsorship, Mr. Ihab Hinnawi, Umniah’s CEO said, “Umniah’s sponsorship reflects our belonging to youth and our community at large through encouraging the belonging to arts and culture. We are confident that it will motivate students to showcase their talents demonstrate how this important sector affects our lives. We look forward to seeing the results of the competition and witnessing the positive results of this campaign, which promotes a pivotal sector in our economy.”

Students can paint tourist sites, whether historical or natural, Jordanian traditions, and tourism careers. The deadline for submitting final paintings is 8th November. Following that, a panel of renowned judges will evaluate the paintings and choosing the best 12 to be awarded during and official ceremony and later published in a 2011 calendar.

The competition is open to students living in Jordan aged from 9 to 17 years old. Entries will be divided into two competing categories: from 9-12 years old and from 13-17 years old. The paintings must be produced by an individual and not a group of persons. Every contestant is eligible to submit a single entry.

The painting competition is part of the national tourism awareness campaign, which was firstly launched in 2007 by MoTA in coordination with the USAID/Jordan Tourism Development Project, targeting seven audience groups; policymakers, career influencers (parents and teachers), students, tourism workers, tourism business owners and managers, media, and the general public.