The Jordan Tourism Board is delighted to announce the appointment of new Minister of Tourism & Antiquities following the recent government elections in November 2010. His Excellency, Mr Zaid J. Goussous, was appointed to the position of Minister on the 24th November, 2010.

Born in Amman In 1948, His Excellency graduated in 1973 with a B.A in Business Administration and Economics at Ohio University and in 1975 he earned his MCP Master of City & Regional Planning from Ohio State University, USA.

Goussous worked with a colombus architectural firm for 3 years during which he participated in the restoration of the German Village _an old neighbourhood turned in to an attractive tourist destination

Zaid J. Goussous boasts a successful career with a number of important appointments. He has occupied posts such as Regional Director for Middle East perations Wilbur Smith Associates, Vice President of the Federation of Tourism Associations, as well as President of the Jordan Restaurant Association.

A leading figure in the tourism industry, His Excellency spent 4 years as Chairman of the Tourism Committee and Development Committee from 2002 to 2006, as Council Member of the Amman Municipality.

Also involved in charities and non-profit organizations and programs, Goussous has been member of the Boards of Trustees ‘National Music Conservatory’ (NMC), Jordan’s premier institution for the development of talented local musicians, the ‘Amman Symphony’ and ‘Tkyat Umm Ali’, a Jordanian non-governmental organization initiated by HRH Princess Haya Bint Al-Hussein to fight hunger and poverty in Jordan in a sustainable manner. 

Component leader of Jordan’s National Tourism Strategy, Goussous is also founder and board member of the Euro-Mediterranean Restaurant Federation (EMRF), non-profit and non-governmental organization comprised of national organizations of restaurants in European and Mediterranean countries, aiming at rendering services to its members and to exchange information and expertise for the development of the hospitality industry.

Since 1979, Goussous has been displaying his entrepreneurial spirit and views as proprietor of several hospitality establishments located all over Jordan, from the far north to the far south, employing more than 350 people organizing cultural performances from Opera to Oriental to Popular music in venues such as Omm Qais Roman Theatre ,Mount Nebo , Amman Citadel & Wadi Rum.

In 2003 Goussous established The Jabal Amman Residents Association (JARA) in the old neighbourhood of Amman with the famous summer street market being one of its activities.