Brand USA has brought 20 hotel and tourism organisations to Dubai for Arabian Travel Market (ATM) to capitalise on increased air links between the Middle East and the US and the new pre-clearance facility at Abu Dhabi International Airport which streamlines the immigration process.

According to Jay Gray, Brand USA’s vice president, global partnership development, better access will help to accommodate pent-up travel demand from the region.

“We realise the potential, need and importance for us to proactively engage with the Middle East tourism industry in order to maximise these opportunities,” he said.

As well as services to Chicago, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington DC, new this year are flights from Saudia to Los Angeles, Emirates to Boston, Qatar Airways to Philadelphia, with additional links launching later in 2014.

These include Etihad to Los Angeles on June 1 and Dallas/Fort Worth from December 3; Qatar Airways linking Doha to Miami from June 10 and Dallas/Fort Worth from July 1, while additionally, Emirates is upgrading its daily service to Dallas/Fort Worth to an A380 from October 1.

“The ease and choice of gateways from which to enter the US from the Middle East continues to grow – and the benefit for travellers is that they can enter through one city and visit a number of US cities and regions before heading out with a direct flight back to the Middle East from another,” remarked Gray.

Among exhibitors on the Brand USA pavilion are tourist boards from Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Greater Miami, plus hotels such as Best Western, Provident, The Resort at Pelican Hill and InterContinental Los Angeles; Caesars, Universal Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood, and several tour operators and car rental companies.-TradeArabia News Service