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Senior Director, Middle East and North Africa Regional Business Unit Preston Motes
Preston Motes is an international economic development specialist with more than 20 years of experience designing and implementing programs focused on private sector competitiveness, entrepreneurship, workforce development, local economic development, and tourism. He is currently a senior director in Chemonics’ Middle East and North Africa regional business unit and a member of the Economic Growth and Trade Practice. Preston has worked in more than 30 countries throughout the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean, engaging with a broad range of stakeholders from local entrepreneurs to national governments, multilateral governmental and nongovernmental agencies, and multinational firms. He previously served as the chief of party of USAID’s Building Economic Sustainability through Tourism (BEST) project in Jordan, which enables Jordan’s transformation into a globally competitive tourism destination. Preston has an M.A. in international development from American University, and he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Bolivia.
by Preston Motes
Tourism Dollars Make the World Go Round
Each year, an unlikely scene unfolds in Jordan. Hundreds of motorcyclists gather from across the globe to take part in the Jordan Rider Rally Weekend — an event organized by the Royal Motorcycle Club of Jordan and the Jordanian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. Over the course of a weekend, hundreds of motorcyclists will depart…
Tourism Can Be an Engine of Economic Growth — If It’s Done Right
Tourism is an industry with the capability to transform international development. Tourism is the largest service industry globally, accounting for nearly 10 percent of global GDP. Nearly 293 million jobs, or one in eleven jobs around the world, are within the tourism sector. Tourism is currently featured in three of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),…