A warm front seems to be passing over U.S. groups' chilly attitude toward dicey destinations. Soon after the Bush administration lifted the U.S. travel ban on Libya, PWN Exhibicon International announced it would be holding the first American trade show in the long-forbidden North African country in January. "It seemed like an opportunity," says Peter Nathan, president of the Westport, CT-based exhibition industry consulting firm. "Libyans are delighted Americans are coming back" after 23 years, he notes. Richard Bangs of Mountain Travel Sobek in Emeryville, CA, who took a small group of Americans to Libya this spring, says the country has much to offer both planners and attendees, including "great meeting space" at the brand-new, 299-room Corinthia Bab Africa Hotel in Tripoli. Libya is rich in natural and archaeological wonders, he adds, featuring 1,500 miles of unspoiled beaches and some of the best-preserved Roman ruins outside Rome. On the other hand, Mary Hunter, senior planner in program development for USMotivation in Atlanta, says that a recent trade show she attended in Marrakesh, Morocco, saw only a handful of Americans. She admits she'd be hard-pressed to sell North Africa to U.S. clients: "Europeans go there, but most Americans would look at you as if you had two heads if you suggested the region. They think it's near Baghdad." But remote places sometimes prove the right fit for the right attendees, she notes. "For well-traveled clients looking for something different, a place like Morocco can be very interesting."