Like most women from Wadi Musa in Jordan, Mona Al Nasrat had limited career choices open to her after high school. She lives next to the ancient city of Petra, Jordan’s most treasured tourist attraction, and the local economy is heavily dependent on tourism; yet job opportunities for women in this sector are limited, as the conservative Jordanian culture discourages women from working in hospitality. Her future changed however after a visit to the Petra Vocational Training Center, which was revamped as part of a nationwide upgrade effort by the Ministry of Labor and USAID. Mona became one of the first young women from the area to work at the Petra Marriott hotel.

In addition to undergoing a physical upgrade, the Petra Vocational Training Center adopted a new program and strategy, which included open days to encourage students, particularly women, and their parents to visit and consider hospitality studies.

Mona visited the center to peruse the programs offered and took an interest in studying hospitality to develop her English language skills and practice with tourists. Mona’s parents accepted the idea, but there were protests from neighbors and friends who maintained that women should not enter into the field of hospitality. However Mona’s father supported her and she continued her hospitality studies at the center.

After completing six months of theoretical study, it was time for Mona to move into practical training. At this point though her father disapproved of his daughter working in a hotel, thinking that local culture, traditions and religion did not allow it. As part of the new program, Mr. Nasrat was invited to visit the Petra Marriott to see the establishment and what hotel work is like; this helped to change his view of the industry to one that offers good, honorable careers in a respectable environment. Mona was allowed to undergo her six-month practical training and was one of two female trainees who were the only women working at the hotel. For Mona, this was an incentive to prove herself, and she says, “This motivated me to work hard and prove that Jordanian women are capable of excelling at work and bringing across Jordanian hospitality to tourists while preserving local customs and traditions.”

Mona was rewarded for her commitment and skills by being offered a full time job after graduating from the VTC program. She works at the hotel front desk and earns a good and steady salary, which enables her to contribute to her household income and help support her family. Mona now aspires to continue her higher education in the field of hospitality and one day move up to the managerial level. Other young women have been inspired to take up hospitality through the new vocational training program, and the number of women working or training at hotels in Petra has and continues to increase.