The Orange County Visitors Association is hosting five Middle East media outlets this month and in July that plan to produce broadcast and written accounts of the area in newspapers, magazines, and a 13-week television series.
The Irvine organization hopes for visitors from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman.
“This is a unique opportunity for us,” said Ed Fuller, OCVA’s chief executive. “It gives us a leg up as a destination.”
The five media are:
• Middle East Broadcasting Center Group, or MBC, an English-language TV station based in Dubai and owned by Saudi billionaire Waleed Al Ibrahim;
• Dubai TV, which broadcasts in Arabic and is operated by government-run Dubai Media Inc.;
• Al Bayan, an Arabic newspaper also operated by Dubai Media;
• Check-Inn TV, a cable TV travel channel based in Qatar; and
• The in-flight magazine for Etihad Airways, the United Arab Emirates’ national airline
OCVA opened a sales office in Dubai more than a year ago that generated the interest.
“Our team there was able to secure this,” Fuller said.
The projects put Orange County “ahead of the game compared to other destinations in the state” in attracting Middle East tourism, said Jay Burress, chief executive of the Anaheim/Orange County Visitor & Convention Bureau.
He also cited increased flights to Southern California by several Middle East airlines.
Fuller has said Etihad Airways crews stay at the Hilton Anaheim, and Burress figured international crews take “a hundred rooms a night” each time they have a layover.
Figures
The number of Middle Eastern travelers to Orange County is tough to nail down. The latest data from tourism marketing organization Visit California showed that 225,000 came to the state in 2013, up 14% over 2012, and they spent about $561 million—less per day but more per stay than other foreign travelers, because they stay longer.
Tajamul Hussain, the chief strategy officer and executive producer of Check-Inn TV who is overseeing the filming here, said travelers from the Middle East stay an average of 17 days on their trips.
Luxe
Media crews are “looking at every aspect of Orange County,” including historical sites like the county courthouse in Santa Ana and Mission San Juan Capistrano. Still, definite draws are the luxe parts of OC.
“They filmed our spa, the meeting space, the lobby and concierge, and went into the kitchen,” said Fairmont Newport Beach Hotel General Manager Karl Kruger.
He said a crew asked if they could film a “fusion Middle Eastern dinner” being made and served while they were there.
“Our chef’s pretty adaptable,” he said. “We can [work with] just about anything.”
