As residents and citizens of Gulf countries plan their summer holidays with some trepidation this year following the recent world events post September 11th, Australia is keen that its popularity as a destination for the Arab traveler does not dwindle. Australian Tourist Commission officials in the region have stated that Australia is as friendly and welcoming as ever to visitors from all over the world venturing ashore its land.
According to Tariq Syed, the Imam of the Gold Coast Mosque in Queensland, Australia’s most popular tourist destination for the Middle Eastern visitor, “The initial hesitation of visitors from the Middle East may have resulted from Australia’s support for the fight against terrorism and some of the adverse publicity generated by isolated actions against the Muslim community in Australia by a minority of ignorant individuals. Our Islamic society, State and Federal authorities and other religious groups condemned these actions. The public response has been overwhelming and we are pleased to say that to our knowledge no such incident has reoccurred. Australia is a very tolerant country, and remember that it is itself a country, where all religions and cultures are welcome and live in harmony.”
Meanwhile, the Australian Tourist Commission has announced that visitor arrival figures for the year 2001 from the Gulf were slightly higher than those the previous year, helping Australia achieve solid tourism arrivals from the Middle East region just a year after the Olympics drew record numbers from all over the world.
The country is hoping to welcome even higher numbers this year as popular sites for Arab visitors in favored destination like the Gold Coast, Sydney and Melbourne reach out, building mosques and other similar conveniences to welcome the Arab News.
"This is not only pleasing but significant," said Rodney Harrex, the ATC’s manager for market development in the Middle East. Of course, the bulk of travel to Australia from the Middle East is undertaken in June, July and August but we are optimistic that the lure of Australia for the Middle Eastern visitor terms of family entertainment, value for money in these low season months Australia and extraordinary wildlife on offer, will remain high in 2002."
As recently as ten years ago, Australia and all it has to offer, was virtually unknown to many in the Middle East who preferred to stick with familiar ground for their annual holidays abroad. But many factors, including the weekly excellent flight connections from all cities in the region and the fact that Australian dollar is at present at an all time low, have contributed to the rise in destination's popularity.
An additional bonus - Australia's winter is the Gulf’s summer and hence the climate is warm but not hot and attractions, theme parks and the beaches are a lot less crowded than in the rest of the world.
