The study investigates the effectiveness of reframing Wadi Rum's narrative from the currently common emphasis on its resemblance to outer space terrain and the moon to reframe it in line with adventure, heritage and cultural tourism. The study's design adopts qualitative and quantitative data collection methods to contrast the perception of tourists from different age groups with their preferences and expectations. The tourists were asked to specify their age group and explain their decision to visit Wadi Rum in writing. The study reveals a generational difference impacting the expectations and preferences of tourists informed by existing and emerging alternative frames and representations of Wadi Rum. The study recommends adopting translation as reframing in promoting Wadi Rum to account for the expectations of different age groups. The findings reveal that the translation of Wadi Rum needs to pay attention to staged authenticity and exoticism considerations to meet the needs of diverse tourist preferences. The study also recommends monitoring the emergence of alternative narratives because they are dynamic entities and are always expected to be subject to changes, and monitoring them is a contributing factor to sustainable tourism growth.