Travel and politics seem to be constant but uneasy bedfellows. (And rest assured Tripso readers, this is not going to be a “cancel my subscription” pro-Obama post.)
In this case, however, a political decision out of Dubai has ended up hurting the country’s tourism business. The decision was the United Arab Emirates (UAE) choosing to deny a visa to an Israeli tennis player for the Dubai Championship.
IsramWorld, one of the leading tour operators to the Mideast, announced Monday that because of the decision, they will cancel all their tour programs to Dubai.
The woman involved, Shaheer Peer, is ranked 48th in the world, and was not likely to win or have had a major impact in the tournament. Still, she is not known as a political activist, so the UAE’s decision is disturbing.
Isramworld’s president, Ady Gelber, called the UAE’s decision “an odious act of political bigotry,” and added “Dubai appears not ready to be a member of the world tourism family.”
From a travel agent’s perspective, the whole situation is unfortunate. Isramworld is a well-regarded, long-established company — exactly the sort of tour operator most agents like to use to exotic countries. They were one of the first to offer tours to Egypt, and to Jordan.
Dubai, with their fantasy hotels, has become well known to travelers looking for the “next new thing,” but they also have the highest average hotel prices in the world, and their tourist economy has suffered with the global recession.
Clearly, Israel’s role in the Mideast is controversial, but it is hard to see any benefits for anyone in this situation. Travelers willing to try Dubai as “something different” may be scared off, and travel agents, with one less trusted resource, may be less likely to book the destination.
Personally, I can only hope that by next year, the UAE will put tennis, not politics, first.
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
