Leisure travellers shun the U.S

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GCC travellers are wary of travelling to the US on holiday due to tough security measures.

The Middle East leisure market remains reluctant to travel to the US due to tough security procedures, despite a recent show of confidence in North America by the region's airlines.

The region's travel agents have claimed that six years after 9/11, GCC leisure travellers are still wary of returning to the US.

Despite a number of major airlines recently launching new Middle East-U.S routes, including Qatar Airways, Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways and U.S carrier Delta, agents have said that the U.S is bottom of the must-visit list for local leisure travellers due to the complicated visa and security procedures they encounter.

"There has been a considerable drop in leisure and student traffic from the passengers of Middle Eastern origin, even though flights to the US have increased," said Asif Hussein, operations manager, outbound tours, at Dubai's Al Tayer Travel.

Al-Futtaim Travel's customer service manager for holidays, Lloyd Lobo concurred and said GCC nationals were finding it too complicated to travel to the US because of the lengthy visa application.

"I remember a few years back we used to do a lot of packages to Disneyland Orlando and the U.S in general, but it has reduced a lot and for GCC nationals it's become really difficult," he explained.

A GCC national wishing to enter the US is required to make a visa application, complete an interview, and provide biometric and biographical information, which will be checked against watch lists.

Once their visa is acquired and they have boarded their flight, Form I-94 has to be completed, providing basic information such as name and date of birth.

On arrival, passengers must go through US immigration where they present documents, go through biometric screening and complete another interview.

If officials are unable to verify the person's identity they will go through a secondary inspection, before either being allowed into the US or rejected.

"[Our customers] have to get an appointment, which takes some time and [because] it's a last minute market out here, this is not an appealing option," said Lobo.

"To get the U.S visa it takes nearly a month and unless you prepare well in advance - which most GCC nationals seldom do - it's going to take up too much time."

He also highlighted how U.S visa issues were wasting valuable travel agent time: "We find a package and the customer doesn't have a visa. They say they'll go and get one and come back, and then they simply don't turn up. It has affected us very badly; the traffic to the U.S has dropped considerably," he explained.

Hussein said many GCC nationals also had an "irrational fear of racial profiling" on entering the US, which did not relate to his experiences of travelling to the country post-9/11, as he had witnessed no such prejudice.

"The check-in procedures have become a bit tedious, but this is a necessary menace and we need to learn to live with it," he said.

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