WADI RUM — While Travelweek was covering G Adventures’ 2025 GX Summit this week, attendees – media, content creators, travel advisors, VIPs and even Jordanian Royalty, her Royal Highness Princess Rajwa bint Ali – had a chance to discover the wonders of Jordan.

From the desert to the Dead Sea, Jordan has an amazing abundance of unique and extraordinary sites. Stay in a Bedouin tented camp or soak in a mud bath in the Dead Sea, it’s a revitalizing experience. Of course, Petra and Jerash are ancient wonders, but we went beyond.

Tented camps owned by the Bedouin people in the middle of iconic Wadi Rum are not as rustic as one might think.

Each tent (or cabin) is outfitted with two beds and a fully functional bathroom; many have a chair and desk, as well. Refrigerators and kettles are also part of the amenities.

But you won’t spend long in your room. The desert light of Wadi Rum reflected on golden-red sand dunes and rock formations striped with terra cotta, rust and gold are the backdrop to this stunningly still and quiet place.

Stylish tented camp accommodation in Wadi Rum

We were taken from the dry golden glow desert to the lowest place on Earth – the Dead Sea. I was able to walk to the water’s edge and slather on the mineral-rich mud, said to possess skin-softening properties. After about 15 minutes, I waded into the warm water. Floating effortlessly on my back, with my face to the sky, it was a moment of peace in an otherwise “noisy neighbourhood,” as one G Adventures’ Chief Experience Officer put it of the region.

“Canada is one of our most important markets,” Malia Asfour, director of the Jordan Tourism Board of North America (JTBNA) told Travelweek, and through the unrest in the region, she added, “is our most resilient. Canadians are coming to Jordan.”

A note: Never did our group feel unsafe. We were welcomed with warmth – from being offered a traditional coffee by my non-English speaking Jordanian neighbour at our tented camp, to the generosity of spirit of those who pulled over to offer help when we had a temporary technical problem with our motorcoach, I felt very much secure and sound.

GX 2025 has wrapped up in Jordan with an announcement that G Adventures and National Geographic Expeditions are taking their 10-year partnership to the next level with National Geographic Signature with G Adventures, aimed at the high-end traveller. Also announced at GX Jordan: GX 2026 will take place in Morocco. Watch for more coverage from GX Jordan in an upcoming edition of Travelweek Daily.