We Arab Tourists Are Being Fleeced'
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www.all Africa.com Arab tourists to Cape Town say they are being fleeced by tourism businesses because they are seen as having rivers of oil money. They have been coming to the Western Cape in their droves over recent years because the region is seen as "Arab friendly". Tourism is the province's major money-spinner and Premier Ebrahim Rasool has made a point of encouraging Arabs to visit the Western Cape. He has previously said the Arab world is in search of alternative destinations and investments in a post-9/11 world. According to Rasool, Muslims would not be strip-searched or forced to wait in long queues for clearance before they could enter South Africa. In the Western Cape, they could also find halaal food, an abundance of mosques at which to pray and numerous shopping malls. But now the attitudes of tour operators, business owners and hoteliers could scupper intentions of the government to diversify the tourism pot by encouraging Muslim visitors. Middle-Eastern tourists say they are less than happy with the treatment they have received in the province. They are routinely overcharged because of the perception that "all Arabs are rich" and some say they are made to "feel like fools". Egyptian takeaway owner Mamdouh Mostafa told the Weekend Argus he spoke to Arab tourists daily. "They all say the same thing: people take advantage of them by doubling the price of tours and goods. They are being charged more than other people." Al-Mutaz Khashoggi, who owns a law firm in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, said he is battling to get R15 000 back from an estate agent. Khashoggi paid R30 000 in advance to a booking agent to rent an apartment at Waterplace close to the Waterfront. On arrival he asked his booking agent to find him alternative accommodation as there was a leak in the apartment. He was moved to Granger Place, and R15 000 was used to cover rent for the new place, but promises and a hand-written IOU by the agent to write a cheque for the balance have not materialised. The Saudi lawyer said he has spent R30 000 here on his holiday and will now think twice about coming back. Awatif Salem from Kuwait said when they call local tour operators they are asked where they are from. "When they hear we are from Kuwait they double their prices," she claimed. Salem said she has visited many other countries and has never been treated in this manner. Mohammed Hayder, an ambassador in the Saudi ministry of foreign affairs, said: "People think because we are Arabs, we all have oil money. Whether this is the case or not, it is the principle that matters." Hayder said it was unfortunate that Arabs were being treated in this manner, as they would now tell their friends and associates to think long and hard about coming to the Western Cape. Lynne Brown, provincial minister of finance and tourism, said: "If this is true, we will definitely look into it. We have always viewed the Cape, with its cultural and historical ties to the East, as an alternative space for people from the East and Africa. "This type of discrimination, therefore, whether real or perceived, must be dealt with. And if it is so, it is appaling. It must also be made clear the perpetuation of this type of fraud on any tourist can endanger tourism in the province."
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