US shuns Arab tourists
When officials from 59 tourist-conscious countries met recently in Dubai to attract visitors from often big-spending Gulf Arab tourists, one country was obviously almost absent — the US.
“While US officials are touring the Mideast to salvage America’s image, American tour companies have done the opposite, dropping efforts to lure Arabs to Disney World, New York and Las Vegas since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks,” said The New York Times.
Countries such as Japan, Canada and England were on hand for the Dubai show, but not a single American state or CVB was there. The Orlando-based Tourico Holidays was the only American presence.
“There certainly is a perception that the United States is not as welcoming to Arabs as it was a few years ago,” said Larry Wilson, a senior official at Zayed University in Dubai.
American companies stopped coming to the annual Arabian Travel Market convention after 9-11, according to officials.
The Gulf tourism market is known as one of the world’s most lucrative. The annual Arabian Travel Market features many luxury destinations.
Arab tourists from the Gulf states spent more than $12 billion last year on foreign vacations, according to the World tourism Organization.
Report by David Wilkening
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