By Claire Symonds

‘Sick mullahs humiliate troops’; ‘Pakistan bomb blast kills four’; ‘Woman sentence to death by stoning’; these are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to some of the negative headlines that have been written in the UK in recent months about Middle Eastern countries.

With the many conflicts, terror attacks and human rights abuses in countries such as Iran, Pakistan and Syria, and with the foreign office often advising extreme caution about certain areas, tourism is often the last thing that people associate with these areas.

Yet despite the seemingly endless negative coverage publicising these issues in the UK, Muslim countries still hold a certain mystique for western travellers and tourism there is starting to experience a resurgence. With histories and cultures so very different to our own, it is unsurprising that people are intrigued, but that more and more women are choosing to travel to these countries, in some cases against foreign office advice, is perhaps more unexpected.

This is what adventure travel company, Wild Frontiers, is seeing amongst its client base. Set up in 1999 to cater for people who wanted to experience a holiday that would take them away from the tourist trail and into the real culture of a very different country, the company has seen year-on-year growth in the number of women choosing to travel to Islamic countries for their annual holidays.

"I actually made the application for my visa while the British sailor hostage crisis was still going on, and found the process very quick – not surprising as probably no-one wanted to travel there!" Mary Loosemore

So what is it that attracts these women to such an extent that they travel under threat of terrorism and to places where women are often restricted in their dress and behaviour? Founder Jonny Bealby, who started Wild Frontiers after falling in love with Pakistan, believes a lot is to do with perception.

“These women are intrigued by the Islamic world – through history, literature and current affairs – and want to see it for themselves,” says Bealby. “They are intelligent, well informed people, looking for greater depth to their holiday than drinking margaritas and lying on a beach, and they realise that you can’t learn everything from the media; to have a true opinion you must go there and see for yourself.”

There is no doubt that these countries have some stunning places to see and are rich in ancient history and culture. Iran has old cities packed with exquisite mosques and spectacular madrasses, ruins from ancient Persia and surreal Caspian Sea beach resorts. Bordering Turkey, Iraq, the Lebanon and Jordan, Syria is one of the Middle East's most interesting and historically rich countries. It boasts the oldest inhabited city, the best preserved Roman amphitheatre and the fabulous crusader castle of Crac de chevaliers, described by Lawrence of Arabia as 'the finest castle in all the world'. And Pakistan, which remains practically undiscovered by tourism is also an area of immense natural beauty.

It is descriptions of this beauty that first persuaded Mary Loosemore, the online editor for a top city law firm, to make the journey to Pakistan with Wild Frontiers last year. “I love travel and have always been really interested in visiting places that are a bit unusual or off the beaten track,” she explains. “I saw an article about the trip and it whetted my appetite. Pakistan had such a great mixture, seeing both mountains and cities and generally seeing a part of the world that most people don’t go to.”

Her experience in Pakistan led her to book another trip to Iran, visiting in May this year. “I actually made the application for my visa while the British sailor hostage crisis was still going on, and found the process very quick – not surprising as probably no-one wanted to travel there!” she laughs.

Having studied history at university, it was the historical and political aspects of Iran that enticed Loosemore to visit despite threats of terrorism in the region. “Iran gets portrayed in the press in a certain way and I wanted to make up my own mind,” she says. “It was a very different place to what I had read about and what struck me most was that the people I met were all very normal and, in fact, talked in a similar way about their government as we do about ours back home. They weren’t anti-British at all.”

But what of the safety aspects? Did she have any concerns about travelling to a country that had held 15 Royal Navy crew hostage just a month earlier? “No. I take the view that an organised company won’t let people go where it’s not safe and I did my research as well. Wild Frontiers have so much experience and know so many people that I felt totally safe.”

Jonny Bealby echoes this sentiment. “In my opinion, Iran, Libya and Syria are amongst the safest places that you are likely to travel – as is Pakistan bar certain areas. The political situations in those countries don’t really affect tourists unless you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, but that could be the case anywhere.

"The political situations in those countries don’t really affect tourists unless you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, but that could be the case anywhere." Jonny Bealby, Wild Frontiers

“I don’t want to sound like I am not taking it seriously because I do. We monitor the areas that we travel to every day. We have contacts everywhere that we talk to and get advice from on the ground every day – from security professionals to shoe shine boys,” he explains.

Although many Middle Eastern countries are not politically stable, the increase in tourism to these areas is indicative of the strong desire of westerners to see for themselves what these regions have to offer. While travellers should be fully aware of the potential risks and the advice of the foreign office, it is possible to experience more unusual destination safely.

Bealby concludes that: “A lot of it comes down to experience – reading what is going on in a country and understanding how it affects our groups. If a problem arises, we change the travel plans – in fact we recently flew a tour group over an area that had become too high a risk, and they continued their holiday from a different location. Where I draw the line is where westerners get targeted – then we stop going.”

Wild Frontiers runs holidays to numerous unusual destinations, including Libya, Mongolia, Ethiopia and Colombia. Clients can join an escorted tour or devise a tailor made holiday. For further information visit www.wildfrontiers.co.uk or call 020 7736 3968