LONDON (AP) - Halal tourism is on the rise in the Middle East, mobile phones are revolutionizing the Asian travel industry and the falling U.S. dollar has helped the United States regain some business visitors despite ongoing tight airport security, according to a report on the state of global tourism.

A Euromonitor International report released Monday to mark the opening of the world's largest tourism industry gathering - the World Travel Market 2007 - found that the United States had snatched back some ground it lost to west Europe in the business arena.

Business arrivals to the United States are forecast to rise 3.5 percent to 8.7 million people in 2007, erasing some of a 10 percent decline the previous year, while business arrivals to Europe are forecast to rise 2.6 percent to 69 million people, a much slower rate of growth than the 8 percent recorded last year.

Clement Wong, travel and tourism research manager at Euromonitor International, said the United States remained "the unfriendliest port of welcome in the world," but had benefited from the fall in the U.S. dollar.

At the other end of the spectrum, a separate report by FutureBrand, also issued to coincide with the start of the four-day travel market, found that Australia was the world's top country brand for the second year running.

The United States, Britain, France and Italy rounded out the top five in the Country Brand Index, with Croatia, China and the United Arab Emirates tipped by the FutureBrand survey as the three 'top rising stars,' or those that will become major tourist destinations in the next five years.

"A country's brand reputation is a powerful currency," said Rene A. Mack, president of Weber Shandwick's Travel & Lifestyle Global Practice. "Reputation drives financial and business investment, sustainable growth and helps add fuel to the private and retail sectors."

Travel trends will be discussed in detail by more than 48,000 people attending the World Travel Market. Some 200 countries will be represented by tourism officials, government delegations, tour operators and airlines.

The Euromonitor study highlighted the potential for a boom in Halal tourism in the Middle East, where it forecasts 66 percent growth in inbound tourists by 2011 to 55 million people.

Wong said that a large proportion of those visitors will be intra-regional travelers, encouraged by both increased interconnectivity and reasons not to travel to the United States because of security restrictions.

Wong said that there was a market for a Halal startup airline, such as the budget airline set up by the Vatican earlier this year to transport pilgrims to holy sites. A Halal airline could provide food prepared according to Muslim religious requirements, include prayers and provide separate sections for male and female travelers, he said.

"There is a dearth in the supply of Halal tourism products," he said, citing Dubai's Ice Bar - which is modeled on Western concepts but does not serve alcohol - as an example to be copied.

The report also identified the use of mobile phones in Asia in the tourism industry as a potentially explosive trend that could eventually be exported to the United States and Europe.

Mobile phones have penetrated Asia Pacific markets more than the Internet, opening up access to lower-income consumers because of low cost monthly packages.

A number of regional travel operators have already caught on to the use of text messaging, with Philippine Airlines and Cebu Air providing SMS ticketing while Singapore Airlines sends SMS confirmation services to its local customers.

The FutureBrand reports also highlighted another emerging trend, so-called 'voluntourism,' where tourists plan their trips around humanitarian purposes.

"More and more people taking vacations are trying to contribute to a greater good," said Rina Plaper, the executive director of FutureBrand.