THE Institute of Travel and Tourism has finally
admitted it cancelled plans to hold its 2003 conference in Jordan because of
security concerns.
At the time ITT bosses effectively forced the Jordan
Tourism Board to ditch plans to host the conference by insisting on return
flight prices of just £100 per person for delegates – a third of the typical
fare at the time (Travel Weekly August 26 2002).
ITT chairman Steven Freudmann said: “War [in
neighbouring Iraq] was imminent, people would not have booked. There was a risk
the conference would have had to be cancelled.
“Security was one reason [we pulled out],
and the fact that it would have been a financial disaster. Bookings last year,
even for Malta, were down.”
Ironically, this week the ITT’s annual conference will
take place in Qatar. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office advice for the country
warns of a high threat from terrorism and says there is particular concern
about threats to places where Westerners might gather.
Speaking about Jordan Freudmann argued the ITT was
being “diplomatic” by not voicing security concerns at the time.
The FCO advised against non-essential travel to the
country on February 21 2003, and against all travel on March 19, but the advice
was lifted on April 12 and changed to a warning about the threat of terrorism.
But the ITT made its decision to cancel the Jordan conference in August 2002 –
months before the FCO issued its advice.
Qatar’s neighbour Saudi Arabia has recently seen a
series of terrorist attacks in the past month. But Freudmann said: “Terrorism
cannot be compared with 50,000 troops and aircraft conducting a full-scale
war.”
He said there will be strict badge enforcement during
the conference to protect delegates. At the time of going to press, 420
delegates were due to attend.