PE.com - Tourism Blog

Customary Greeting

I wasn't shocked, but wondered why the United States ranked so poorly (below Kazakhstan) when tourists considered Americans' percieved attitudes about them in the World Economic Forum's first ever Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report I wrote about earlier.

Now I have an idea why.

The first greeting my fellow passengers and I got as we exited the plane after a epic-non-stop flight from London and headed to customs: a drug sniffing dog at our ankles and two uniformed police officers.

Nothing wrong with heaping supplies of security. And not to say they were offering tea and roses in the British customs area, not even a smile really, but I recall sunlight and a distinct lack of uniformed dogs.

-- KIMBERLY PIERCEALL
kpierceall@PE.com