Rediscovering America

zoom

Las Vegas.

Business travellers traditionally visited cities spanning Washington DC and New York, as well as Houston, while Orlando, Miami and the west coast were popular with families.

But since 9/11 it's been a very different story, according to Lloyd Lobo, customer service manager, holidays, at Dubai's Al-Futtaim Travel.

"It has affected us very badly, because the traffic to the US has dropped considerably. We used to do a lot of packages to Orlando and places like that and that business has almost disappeared now," he says.

Part of the problem has been an irrational fear of racial profiling as well as tough visa and security measures, according to Asif Hussein, operations manager outbound tours at Dubai's Al Tayer Travel.

"They are a necessary menace and we need to learn to live with it," he argues.

Lobo says because GCC travellers are last minute bookers, it's difficult for nationals to travel to America because of the prolonged visa application process, which involves several appointments with visa officials.

However, there are signs that business to the US is bouncing back to healthy levels, with Emirates Holidays claiming sales to the destination are "growing constantly".

Emirates Holidays has witnessed 20% year on year growth for US holidays, according to Marco Heinrich, regional manager, destination development, Europe and Americas.

"The most popular destination for us is New York because it's our gateway. Then it's Florida and Orlando, particularly Orlando because of the theme parks - we have definitely seen an increase in traffic to both Orlando and Florida this year," he says.

Although Dubai is investing heavily in theme parks and more family attractions, this will not deter GCC based families from travelling to the US to visit established landmarks such as Disney World and Universal Studios, Heinrich argues. "When you have something on your doorstep you may visit a few times, but then you want to travel somewhere else. You want a change of scenery," he says.

Business as usual

Etihad Airways, which flies a non-stop daily service from Abu Dhabi to New York's JFK Airport, concurs that traffic to the US is healthy and says the post-9/11 impact has petered out.

"Travel by foreigners to the US has returned to pre-September 2001 peak levels," says the airline's US country manager Josephine Boulus.

"The situation is changing, and this is as true of travel from the Middle East as from other overseas destinations, as evidenced by the start of a service from the region to the US by Etihad and two other Middle Eastern carriers."

She refers to Qatar Airways' recently introduced services from Doha to Washington Dulles and New York Newark, as well as Emirates Airlines' three times daily service to New York.

US carriers are also harnessing opportunities to link their hubs to the Middle East's key cities.

Print | Email | Discuss this article

| Share |

READERS' COMMENTS

Click here to post a comment

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Arabian Business would like to point out that only comments relevant to the story will be published. Any containing personal insults or inappropriate language will not be approved.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Enter the words above *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM