DUBAI // Emirates Airline's new route to Los Angeles is the latest move by the aviation and tourism industries to target the US market, but insiders say luring Americans to the UAE remains an uphill battle. They say the recent turmoil on Wall Street will be a new impediment to potential North American visitors, many of whom are unfamiliar with the region and fear terrorism. International tourism to Dubai has increased by almost 70 per cent since 2002, yet the number of travellers from North America has increased by only about 40 per cent, according to the Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing. Half a million North Americans visit every year, compared to more than two million from Europe. In an attempt to boost numbers, Emirates airline launched a new route from Los Angeles to Dubai this week. "Los Angeles represents Emirates' commitment to the American market," said Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, the chairman and chief executive of the airline. It follows recent launches by the airline of direct flights to San Francisco, Houston, New York and Toronto. Etihad Airways, the national carrier, offers service to the latter two cities and the US carrier Delta Airlines has launched a flight to Dubai from Atlanta. Those flights, while popular, are often largely filled with connecting passengers, helping Dubai to become a hub between South East Asia and North America. Both the US and British embassies have recently upgraded their terrorism threat warnings for the UAE, advising vigilance while in the country. "For the average American traveller to go there has been a problem since 9/11, and the fact that it's an Arab state," said Pat Funk, the executive director for the Association for Retail Travel Agents, based in Scottsdale, Arizona. "I see what's going on out there and how it's developing. [The Middle East] will be the largest tourism attraction in the world pretty soon, but the average American traveller is not adventurous. They don't travel well. They'd rather go to Cancun [in Mexico]." Most North Americans remain uninformed about the region's charms, fearful of its culture and dubious of its safety because of the country's proximity to Iran, Saudi Arabia and war-torn Iraq. The problem is likely to be exacerbated by the recent downturn in the country's economy, which has tourism forecasts falling as more Americans plan road trips within their own country, if they take any holiday at all. Mubarak Hamad al Muhairi, the director general of the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority said he agreed the region suffered from stereotyping, but added that it was exacerbated by the western media. "The mainstream media isn't doing it right," he said, adding the Middle East was known "for front-page conflicts". The Arabian Travel Market, an exhibition to be held in Dubai in May, is marketing the Middle East as an unexplored market. But Ms Funk said that even a whiff of conflict, such as the war in Iraq or the troubles of Lebanon, was enough to make most travellers wary. The exception, she said, was among small-business travellers and better educated and well-off tourists. "The market certainly is there." In response to the terrorism alert upgrades by the embassies, the DCTM said it was holding meetings to decide whether to better its marketing strategy abroad. Nawal Taneja, a professor with the Ohio State University department of aviation, said he doubted that breaking into the North American market would be easy. "The average person is not familiar with the Gulf region," he said. "They tend to look at the Middle East as one big common area." Most people do not understand the amount of change that many of the countries here have undergone in the past three decades, he added. jgerson@thenational.ae
Americans an elusive target for tourism
The new route to Los Angeles is the latest move to target the US market, but it still remains an uphill battle.
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