About Ismail

Ismail has been tour guiding in Jordan for 23 years and for the last 15 years he has been exclusively working for Discovery Circle Tours. He studied tour guiding and is fluent in Italian so looks after our Italian clients, who are in very safe hands.

He is married and has 5 children. He has 8 brothers and sisters so is perfectly at home on a noisy tour bus.  

Ismail’s - Top Tips

Favourite Restaurant – Jerusalem Restaurant  ( Al Quds) in the downtown area of Amman. Tourists love this restaurant because it is always full of locals and is very traditional. It’s also really cheap but the quality of food is excellent. It has just been voted on of Amman’s best restaurants for Mansaf, Jordan’s national dish. I’ve been coming here for years, first when I was a child with my family, then as a tour guide and now as a father of 5 – and tour guide too!

Favourite Place – Wadi Rum is my favorite place because not only is it really beautiful but my phone doesn’t work here. This means the office, or my wife, can’t get hold of me and the clients get my full attention.  I’m a desert person. I just love the tranquility – nothing beats it.

Most Asked Question –Most people ask me about the King and Queen of Jordan. Unlike other countries that have a King and / or Queen all the Jordanians really love the King and his family. Tourists tell me that this is not always the case. This is the Jordanian way and that will never change. People are amazed at the fondness of which he is spoken. They also like to know how his role is changing and developing.  

Most Memorable Time whilst Touring - One thing I would never forget; on the tragic event of September 11th, I was escorting a group from Italy. The operator in Italy contacted the group to arrange for their immediate departure from Jordan. The group members refused to leave and insisted on continuing their tour as scheduled and they mentioned to me on several occasions that they feel more safe at the moment in Jordan that they would feel anywhere else. This is something that I will never forget.