As part of PhD research I measured the economic, and subsequent social and cultural, impacts of archaeology and tourism on local communities in the rich archaeological area of Wadi Feynan in central Jordan. This research fed into the strategy for several initiatives to benefit the local population through cultural heritage. As a Post-Doctoral fellow at British Institute in Amman (CBRL), I continued to develop these strategies. During this time I also worked with the Jordanian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities to convene the conference ‘Secrets of Tafila: Local Assets for Community Empowerment and Development’, which brought together international experts and local communities to bring awareness and guidance to the development of community-led tourism to smaller-scale heritage assets.