Britain and America are on the brink of war with Iraq. The Foreign Office is currently advising against all travel to Yemen; 2002 was a particularly bloody year in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. You might reasonably assume that western travellers would be shunning the Middle East.
You would, however, be wrong. The outlook may be desperately uncertain - and, of course, trade with Iraq is completely off-limits - but travel to the Gulf states is booming. The Jumerirah hotels in Dubai are full, Novotel is opening a new hotel there in May (Cairo and Beirut openings follow later this year), and Emirates will fly direct from Manchester to the United Arab Emirates from June. Profits jumped 140% last year, and 85% of UK passengers are travelling on business.
Demand for information about Dubai is such that the Economist will add the city to its online cities guide (www.economist.com/cities) in the spring. The editor Sarah Dallas says she anticipated a great deal of interest, "as there are so few useful guides to the UAE". Absolutely. Helpful though Bradman's business travel guides (www.bradmans.com/scripts) are, with English-speaking business contacts and advice on airport and taxi protocol, they scarcely touch on the needs of a growing proportion of business travellers to the region.
The Middle East, and the Gulf states in particular, are not always an easy place for women to do business. Indeed, women may still have trouble obtaining a visa to travel to Saudi Arabia on business. Many join a trade mission and use that as their sponsor. (Anyone with an Israeli stamp in their passport is likely to be refused entry altogether.) Thamesconsular.com, a London-based visa agency, is a useful quick reference for requirements and processing times.
Fifties-style attitudes towards the needs of female business travellers are still endemic in some circles. The recent fashion for female-only floors disconcerts some women - after all, the Gulf states are already a highly segregated society - but it represents real progress after years of demanding smaller bathrobes and more powerful hairdryers.
Hilton, which has hotels in Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as well as the UAE, is bullish about the safety of its female clientele. Almost 12% of their business customers are women, and a spokesman insisted that the Gulf region "particularly promotes the protection of women. It's one of the few areas where women can wander out in the evening alone and feel completely secure and at ease."
The advice of the Economist's correspondent, a female journalist who has lived in the region for five years, is rather different. "Prostitution is a big problem in Dubai and may interfere with your trip unless you are on the alert," she warns. "Avoid Rolla Street and the Golden Sands area... women travellers walking unescorted in areas other than the Creek or on busy commercial thoroughfares may be harassed by kerb-crawlers or possibly stopped by the police."
Modest clothing is, of course, vital: the DTI's Trade Partners website is pretty comprehensive on the differences between the various Middle Eastern states. (Go to www.tradepartners.gov.uk, choose the country from the markets pulldown menu, and then click on visiting). Journey woman (www.journeywoman.com/ccc/ccc-general.html) has first-person advice from female travellers. In Dubai temperatures can exceed 50C in the summer, so the Economist's correspondent recommends carrying a spare shirt between meetings.
Trade Partners has also put together two CDs for businesses trading in the Middle East: Gulf Spotlight and Women in Business (which "sets out to debunk the myths and misconceptions surrounding the business environment for women in the Gulf.") Both are free and available via http://www.tradepartners.gov.uk/abu_dhabi/whatsnew/overview/travel.shtml#Introduction. You might also want to subscribe to receive email updates on the Foreign Office's travel advice for specific countries (www.fco.gov.uk/travel).
