(CNN) -- Cautious American travelers have long avoided travel to North Africa and the Middle East, and the recent attacks on U.S. consulates aren't likely to make the risk-averse reconsider. Yet seasoned travelers say a lack of familiarity with those regions creates generalization and confusion among travelers that could work against tourism to the United States, if the tables were turned. "I was in Tunisia when ... people were killed at the theater in Colorado, and I was in Tunisia when there was a shootout at the Empire State Building. What people think over there when they hear this, you would think no one would ever come to the United States," said Jerry Sorkin, owner of TunisUSA, a tour operator that organizes trips to destinations including Tunisia and Algeria and had recently been weighing resuming tours of Libya, which the company suspended last year.
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Two weeks in a Syrian prison isn't keeping Pathik Root from traveling abroad
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A tour operator is keeping a close eye on political instability in North Africa
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Morocco often sees a drop in tourism when there's violence in neighboring countries
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Daily life in Mali continues, despite political instability
I am the one who can break stereotypes ... about @placeholder, and I take that pretty seriously, especially relating to the stereotypes about American women."