Impact of Terrorism on Tourism

This is a research report on how Terrorism impacts Tourism.

Causes of terrorism and impact on Tourism

If you are planning holidays at a particular destination, would you still consider that destination if there has been a terrorism activity? Would you consider a destination for travel if it is continuously affected by terrorism?

However, the tourism industry is highly vulnerable to natural as well as human caused Disaster as stated by Abraham Pizam (2000). One of the factors that can negatively impact this sector is terrorism. While the impact is not as huge as that of a war, it can certainly put off tourists for some time. And if terrorist activities continue, it can keep tourists away for a longer time, this causing a big hit to the local economy (Arana (2008)).

Abraham Pizam (2000) says terrorism is becoming an unfortunate part of the travel and tourism landscape and has listed several incidents which shook the world which had an effect on host destinations and the tourism industry worldwide.

Impact on international business and trade activities

Terrorism has multi-level impact on society and the community. According to Fletcher (2008), one of the most disturbing impacts of terrorism is on its impact on international business and trade activities. The extent of terrorism is mostly directed to the disruption and destruction of business prospects (Larobina (2009)) leading to hindrance to global economic growth and expansion of development of the region.

Several countries around the world are affected by tourism, and then there are certain countries which are believed to be exporters of terrorism. Graham Bird (2008) says that data collated over the last few decades suggest that terrorism tend to occur in rich democracies and these countries tend to be net importers of terrorism to a greater degree than the norm. The net exporters of terrorism, on the other hand, tended to be poor and not governed by democracy, and they are also not effectively engaged in globalisation.

Tourism marketing refers to the promotional activities for marketing a region and also to form a positive image in the minds of the potential visitors, it also means securing environmental and social needs as well as core consumer satisfaction” (Fyall & Garrod 2005, p.42). This is destinations strive to project a good image, and terrorism usually negatively impacts the image of the destination (Fyall & Garrod, 2005).

Not because of poverty

While it may seem that poverty is one of the reasons for groups indulging in terrorist activities it is not necessarily the case. In most cases, there’s a political reason for groups indulging in terrorism. Alan B. Krueger (2003) says that cyclical downturns and disparities in living standards do not appear to be correlated to hate crimes. While poverty may give rise to hate crimes in the region, in most cases it doesn’t lead to increase in terrorism as also stated by Enders (2012). Also, breakdown in law enforcement, and other social factors are potential causes of the occurrence of hate crimes. So while, many would assume that poverty directly fuels terrorism, it doesn’t seem to be the case. However, it can be easy to influence poor people to take up terrorist activities (Berrebi (2007)).

Bigger Intensity but frequency causes more impact

Terrorist always try to get media coverage and be in the spotlight so that their message is heard. Several groups who indulge in terrorism and have an agenda have realised how terrorist activity can create an impact and make their voices heard. So over the years, the intensity of the attacks has only become bigger, with every group trying to inflict as big damage as possible.

Abraham Pizam (2000) suggests in his research report suggest that the number of terrorist attacks have actually not increased in several countries, but the intensity of the attacks have increased, resulting in more impact, which creates fear in the find of the tourists. But when it comes to terrorist activities, the frequency of the attacks seems to make more impact than one of incident, even if that incident was huge. The study conducted on the impact of acts of terrorism on tourism demand in Israel during the period of May 1991 to May 2001 confirmed this hypothesis that the frequency of acts of terrorism had caused a larger decline in international tourist arrivals than the severity of these acts. The implications of this study are that in cases similar to Israel, tourist destinations can recover from even severe acts of terrorism, as long as the terrorist acts are not repeated. However, when acts of terrorism—whether of high or low severity—occur at high frequency and regular intervals, tourism demand will constantly decrease, and eventually the destination’s tourism industry will come to a standstill.

Over reaction

As more Nations interact with one another in an ever-evolving world for multiple benefits, they are finding it increasingly useful to have the leverage of Soft Power. This is the reason why more and more countries are taking on a more active role on the global stage. Tourism can be a key Soft Power driver because of its unique ability to create meaningful interactions between cultures.

India, and its individual states, has had success in projecting themselves as tourism havens (despite issues in places like Kashmir) for an international and domestic audience, and consequently gained considerable Soft Power.

However, when the countries differ on some important issues, their differences can impact other areas, include tourism as well. Global perception of a country can be different from that of its citizens so if people think that a country is good, it may not be necessarily the stand taken by its government. (SEVIL F. SÖNMEZ, n.d) says that in most cases it is also the consumer reaction to terrorist activity that fuels a tourism crisis, despite statistics suggesting no drastic change in the number of attacks. However, it is not just the people that over react, even governments can over react and it can have a political agenda also behind it.

Travel advisories issued by the U.S., U.K., New Zealand, and Australian governments against Fiji following the 2000 military coup have been interpreted as being based on ideological hostility against Commodore Frank Bainimarama (King & Berno, 2006). Fletcher (2008) asserted that the travel advisories against Fiji were proof that political interests were embedded. These authors showed that besides issuing travel advisories that directly impacted the tourism of Fiji, these governments warned their citizens and tour operators from engaging in any business activity related to Fiji. Kenya’s Foreign minister had also previously protested against the U.S. and the U.K. governments for using travel advisories to instil fear in tourists (Fletcher 2008). Kenya’s President hit back at travel advisories issued by the U.K. and Australia, stating: ‘We are now fed up with these threats that we keep getting in travel advisories, Kenya is as safe as any country in the world’.

Risk Mitigation

Today, there is more need than ever to secure political, economic and social stability in order to prevent terrorism and ensure safety for all tourists. Political tension, terrorism and civil riots are un-predictable and impose a threat to the future of tourism in any destination. Travelers, on their part, need to be aware of these factors as it’s very easy to get caught in these uncertainties and have a nightmare when on holidays.

(Graham Bird, 2008) suggests the need to have an adequate policy in board to curb terrorism, and suggests that more practical measures have to be introduced, as conventional measures designed to reduce crime may not work in the case of terrorism.

Experts suggest setting up effective policies to deal with terrorism, however for that, authorities need to first understand the causes of the terrorist activities. David Mc. A Baker (2014) says the various socio-economic and cultural reasons why tourists are potential targets for terrorists.

There’s tremendous scope for growth of Toursim in India and is expected to impact the economy in a big way. However, Tourism requires good transportation infrastructure that includes various transportation modes in order to facilitate easy and convenient ways movement of tourists to popular destinations.

Several key infrastructure projects are currently underway, for all modes of transport.

However, terrorism can prevent certain destinations from fully exploiting its potential. The scenic state of Kashmir, in India, has been a bone of contention between India and Pakistan for decades, and the state has been witnessing terrorist activities for years. Rathnam Indurthy (n.d.) says it is up to the elite in the two countries to come to an agreeable solution; he offers various solutions that the parties on both sides could possibly accept to end the conflict.

Governments should also reach out to countries from where visitor count has gone down to understand if that is because of terrorism and try to promote a better picture of the host country and also try to focus on a better relationship with the other country.

Summary

Most of the research that is available points to the fact that tourism impacts the economy of a region with several people employed in it, and earning revenues for the government. There is also lot of literature available that reveals the impact of terrorism on the economy of the region, especially on tourism.

While lot of research has been carried out on how terrorism impacts tourism, not much is available regarding the policies that needs to be adopted to reduce/contain terrorism in specific locations (states, countries) so that the potential of a tourist destination is fully exploited.

The main research objective is to evaluate if terrorism impacts tourism and if it does how can authorities mitigate the issues faced. This research will study the nature of the terrorist activities that India faces and how effective policies have to be put in place to draw more tourists to destinations marred by terrorism. It will also take a look at the steps that governments are taking to make their countries safe and secure for the locals and the tourists.

There are several ways through which governments can tackle terrorism in their country; we will also provide recommendations and the ways that would be effective to fight against terrorism.

References

Alan B. Krueger and Jitka Malecˇkova, 2003, “Education, Poverty and Terrorism: Is There a Causal Connection?”, Journal of Economic Perspectives—Volume 17, Number 4—Fall 2003—Pages 119–144

David Mc. A Baker, 2014, “The Effects of Terrorism on the Travel and Tourism Industry”, International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage – Volume 2, Issue 1 Tourism and Terrorism Article 9, Pages 61, 63, 64

Graham Bird, S. Brock Blomberg, Gregory D. Hess, “International Terrorism: Causes, Consequences and Cures”, The World Economy (2008) – Pages 258–259 Rathnam Indurthy (n.d.), Preface. In: India–Pakistan Wars and the Kashmir Crisis.

SEVIL F. SÖNMEZ, YIORGOS APOSTOLOPOULOS, AND PETER TARLOW, “Tourism in Crisis: Managing the Effects of Terrorism”, JOURNAL OF TRAVEL RESEARCH, Page 15 Yashobanta Parida & Parul Bhardwaj & Joyita Roy Chowdhury, 2015. “Impact of Terrorism on Tourism in India,” Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 35(4), pages 2543-2557.

John Fletcher, Anna Y Hillingdon (2008). Tourism activity, terrorism and political instability within the Commonwealth: The cases of Fiji and Kenya Article in International Journal of Tourism Research 10(6):537-556· DOI: https://www.researchgate.net/deref/http%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1002%2Fjtr.699

Brian E M King, Tracy Berno (2005). Fiji Islands: Rebuilding Tourism in an Insecure World. In book: Tourism, Security and Safety, pp.67-82

Abraham Pizam, Ginger Smith (2000). Tourism and Terrorism: A Quantitative Analysis of Major Terrorist Acts and Their Impact on Tourism Destinations. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5367/000000000101297523

Abraham Pizam, Aliza Fleischer (2002). Severity versus Frequency of Acts of Terrorism: Which Has a Larger Impact on Tourism Demand? DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287502040003011

Jorge E. Arana, Carmelo J.León (2008). The impact of terrorism on tourism demand. Annals of Tourism Research. Volume 35, Issue 2, April 2008, Pages 299-315

The Impact of Terrorism on Business. Larobina, Michael D; Pate, Richard L. Journal of Global Business Issues; Burbank Vol. 3, Iss. 1, (Spring 2009): 147-156.

Walter Enders, Gary A. Hoover (2012). The Nonlinear Relationship between Terrorism and Poverty. AMERICAN ECONOMIC REVIEW VOL. 102, NO. 3, MAY 2012 (pp. 267-72)

Claude Berrebi, Published Online (2007). Evidence about the Link Between Education, Poverty and Terrorism among Palestinians. Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy Volume 13, Issue 1