His Dissertation entitled “Tourism and local communities in Jordan: Perception, Attitudes and Impacts”. It examines the economic, social, and environmental implications of local communities in archaeological sites. The study was awarded the German Society for Tourism Studies (GDT)” Prize for a most excellent international study” at the International Tourism Fair (ITB) in Berlin in 2007.
On June 2017, Dr Hijazeen moved from Petra to Aqaba as Deputy Chief Commissioner of Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA), and Commissioner for Investment and in charge of Wadi Rum protected area development project. He chaired the board of Aqaba Railway Co., Aqaba Facilities Management Co., and Vice-Chair of Aqaba Development Corporation.
On October 14th 2010, was appointed as Commissioner for Petra Archaeological Park, in 2012 was promoted to Deputy Chief Commissioner, and Commissioner of Park Cultural Heritage and Tourism Affairs. Before this position, he was appointed Chair of the Department of Cultural Tourism, and Assistant Dean at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Mutah University. He also held the position of junior consultant at the International Tourism Organization for Development and Investment (GATO) in Munich-Geramny.
Born in Zarqa in 1963, he was a full time lecturer for Tourism Studies and Heritage Management at Mutah University since completing his doctorate. In addition to scientific research, he commands several languages like English, German, and Italian. Mr. Hijazeen has many participation in international and national conferences. He is also a co-founder of two NGOs (Bait al Anbat and Turath) which work to preserve Jordan’s cultural heritage.
