Originally Posted by
Moineau
Just imagine what the reaction from the US would be if Brad Pitt or Al Pacino or someone like that (sorry, not really up on American celebs but you get the idea) was detained by immigration in Mumbai. The whining would go on from now until the turn of the century.
People can whine all they want. No one really cares if a star is arrested. The incident would not be newsworthy if he were caught bringing drugs or contraband. The report is relevant not because he was a star, but because he was singled out because of his name.
Originally Posted by
hfly
You mean like when Sylvester Stallone was detained in Australia by customs and immigration..............and no one cared. I can go on. Hell I had to deal with a certain celebrity getting hassled and detained in Dubai not so long ago and quite frankly no one cared to make anything of it.
Or maybe it was because the last time SRK had "customs trouble" in the US he intentionally brought it upon himself as part of a PR plot aimed at promoting his soon upcoming film 'My name is Khan" maybe just maybe after that the CBP did in fact put him in the computer due to the hassle and bad publicity that he caused the agency.
That he is a celebrity, or one of the biggest stars in some part of the world is not the issue. A celebrity being detained makes no difference to travellers. But who he is, his name and that he happens to have a certain religion is.
Are you saying it's retaliation? Government retaliating against? Why would people travel to a country where they expect massive retaliation from the most powerful Govt machinery in the world?
Back to the point, which is---harassment of travellers, famous and ordinary, middle eastern or not, in various ways is a major contributor to declining share of U.S. travel, but sluggish economy and globalisation have also left our country out of travelling plans of many.