DUBAI, United Arab Emirates --Promoters from 64 countries vied last week to lure big-spending Arab tourists to their countries at the Middle East's largest tourism convention.
But not a single promoter from the United States turned up.
Instead, the U.S. government sent officials from the Department of Homeland Security to demonstrate its mandatory fingerprinting of Arab and other foreign visitors. The only other U.S. presence inside the Americas hall at the show came from a tiny boutique hotel in New York.
"It's bizarre," said Sarah Wood, promoting Canada's Ontario and Niagara Falls at a nearby booth. "People ask us where the U.S. booth is and we point them to the Homeland Security booth."
A pair of U.S. Homeland Security officials at the show did their best to give details on America's tourist sights, such as the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas, while explaining that being fingerprinted by U.S. immigration officials doesn't mean a person should feel like a criminal.