Come into my home, said the spider to the fly

We recently took up scuba diving, my husband and I. On our recent honeymoon a few months ago, we were both certified for recreational diving and fell in love with the sport. It wasn’t long after our return that we started looking to book another diving vacation within the next year, so we started looking at some locations that might be of interest. During my search, I found an article entitled “Saudi Promotes Kingdom as Premier Dive Location” - an article promoting Saudi Arabia as a destination for fun in the sun. Of course, there was a checklist of appropriate behaviors to go along with it:

1. Don’t expect alcohol to be served anywhere
2. Women must come robed head to toe
3. You must refrain from eating from dawn to dusk during the holy month of Ramadan.
4. No swinging singles allowed
5. Women younger then 40 must be accompanied by their brother or father
6. Only single issue visas are allowed

Saudi Arabia wants to show the country is more than just the former home of Osama Bin Laden and a breeding ground for terrorism.

I read that article back in July - and pretty much decided that Saudi wouldn’t be the place we’d be looking to for rest and relaxation under the sea.

Today, I find this article: “Muslim nations considering tourism push“, which states:

Muslim countries are considering a global campaign to boost tourism by 2010 and are contemplating a move to ease visa restrictions for each other’s citizens, Malaysia’s national news agency reported. “Tourists from other countries should be encouraged to visit Muslim countries so that they will get to know Islamic countries better,” Malaysian Tourism Minister Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor was quoted as saying…

Seriously.

Muslim countries have a very distinct public relations problem. Typically, vacationers don’t go on vacation expecting to die… usually their own death is the furtherst from their minds when they are looking to rest, relax and vacation.

What would you feel like on your way to a vacation in a Muslim country? Eager anticipation? Or the need to arm yourself, don a bullet proof vest and worry the entire time that you’ll return home with your head still on?

“Malaysa: So much fun you’ll lose your head!”
“My parents were kidnapped in Kuala Lumpur and all I got was this bloody T-shirt”
“Group discounts for conversions to Islam”

Like I said . . . serious PR problem going on there.