Relationship between International Tourism and Terrorism - Essay Example

University> By EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The basis of the report is “Terrorism is an enigmatic and compelling phenomenon, and its relationship with tourism is complex and multifaceted” (Baker, 2014). This is a clear indication that the effect of terrorism on international tourism can be very adverse. One of the most significant effects is that it leads to unemployment. Both international travel and tourism are contributors to the growth and development of an economy. Statistics show that out of every two years for the past three decades international tourist arrivals outpaced national growth. Hence, the importance of tourist arrivals could not be overruled. Several countries depend on tourism as among the leading source of national income. As such, the sector employs several people in various departments. Terrorism destroys both the human beings, animals, and other resources useful in tourism. As such, in such cases, several people are left unemployed. In addition to the above, terrorism substantially influences travel. This means that the terror-prone regions will not be visited by tourists. In the long run, the affected countries will be negatively affected. In addition to the above, it is imperative to note that several other businesses depend on tourism sector. Industries such as airports, hotels, and restaurants are the most common. Thus, this is a clear indication the government needs to ensure that all the necessary policies are implemented to ensure that a nation is free from terror attacks and related activities. Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2 INTRODUCTION 4 RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INTERNATIONAL TOURISM AND TERRORISM 5 IMPACT OF TERRORISM ON INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM IN THE FUTURE 8 EFFECTS ON ECONOMY 8 EFFECTS ON TOURISM SECTOR 8 EFFECTS ON THE MUSLIM NATIONS AND THEIR TOURISM 10 EFFECTS OF TERRORISM ON DESTINATION IMAGE 10 CONCLUSION 11 REFERENCES 12 INTRODUCTION International tourism is the act of visiting a country that an individual is not a member or resident for a period with the primary objective of enjoying the tourist attraction sites in these countries. Several features and factors facilitate or enable international tourism. One of the most common of these features is recreation and holiday. In most cases, people visit different countries for recreation and holidays. Secondly, people engage in international tourism for the purpose of education. This is the main reason that you will find several international students studying various courses in various global institutions. Other factors that amount to international tourism include cultural events, sports, family affairs, and religious practices (Koroma, 2011 pp.5). According to Ranalbhat terrorism is defined as “any harmful action that intend to cause death and serious damages to human body or noncombatants, when the purpose of such an act, by its nature or context, is to intimidate a population, or to compel a Government or an international organization to do or to abstain from doing any act” (Rnalbhat, 2015 pp.8). It is worth noting that terrorist uses various weapons that can cause massive destruction of the environment and kill lives. Sonmez defines terrorism as any “pre-meditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against civilians and unarmed military personnel by subnational groups usually intended to influence an audience" (Sonmez, 1998 pp.2). The author also defines international terrorism as “involving citizens or the territory of more than one country” (pp.2). RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INTERNATIONAL TOURISM AND TERRORISM One of the most significant relationships between tourism and terrorist is that most terrorists use tourists to achieve their goals and objectives. There are many goals that terrorists tend to achieve whenever they target tourist. One of the most significant goals is to gain publicity. Most of the terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda conduct their attacks with the primary objective of attracting the international attention. As such, by targeting the visitors in a nation, they draw the attention of various countries that sympathize with the foreigners. The second goal of the terrorists is to cause economic disruption in most parts of the world. Most countries across the globe such as Egypt and Australia depend on tourism as the primary source of national income. As such, attacking the tourists will lower down the revenue generated from this sector. Other terror groups have an ideological opposition to tourism in some specific regions of the world. As such, they conduct these catastrophic events with an objective of opposing tourism (Mukesh & Priyanka 2014 pp.29). Secondly, terrorist considers the tourist as the ambassadors of their respective nations. Two possible relationships are depicted in such an instance. Firstly, the terrorist may not be able to attack a particular target country because of beefed security or other factors. So as to achieve their mission, they will use tourists which as well will be representative of their target countries. One of the examples of this is the attacking of American tourists by the in Korea by the Al Qaeda. This happens because they cannot be in a position to attack the United States of America directly. As a result, they will have succeeded partly in attacking the US (Seabra & Abrantes, 2014 pp.11). Two primary examples illustrate that terrorist uses the tourists to cause havoc in the international peace and diplomatic relations. Sonmez asserts that “This concept was fatally demonstrated during the 1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro yacht by Palestinian terrorists. The selection of the only Jewish American on board as the one passenger to be killed is anything but coincidental” (Sonmez, 1998 pp.7). In the first example, the Palestine terrorist targeted only one individual. As well, in the second example, the killing of the American is a clear indication that the terrorists were only targeting the Americans because nobody else was hurt. It is also worth noting that international tourism is closely linked to the political significance of the nations. One way in which this is depicted is that most of the terrorism act target particular citizens of a nation. The above is interpreted to mean that it is the process of targeting the strict political limits in the countries of the tourists. When the victims of a given terrorist act conducted involve tourists, the terrorists are assured that the news will be covered internationally. As such, they attract public attention all over the world. On the other hand, when tourists are kidnapped or killed the media circulate such news widely, and this is beneficial to the tourists. It assists the terrorist to reach the global scenes, and this creates more political conflicts (Ahlfeldt, Franke & Maennig, 2015 pp.6). Finally, it is surprising that research reveals that terrorists can circulate across the globe claiming to be international tourists. As such, they substantially satisfy their resource needs and other goals. Sonmez indicates that “Terrorists can distribute among tourists and carry out financial transactions in foreign currencies without arousing suspicion” (Sonmez, 1998 pp.8). This situation makes it tough for the governments and security authorities to trace them. Conclusively, the relationship between terrorists and international tourism has over the previous years increased. This is primary because by targeting tourists the terrorists achieve their ideological goals and objectives. In addition to the above, international tourism enables the tourists to punish some nations for collaborating with some governments which oppose their ideologies. Besides, it also awakes their claims of legitimacy since it depicts the affected countries’ governments as weak and unable to protect their citizens. It is imperative to note that international tourists and terrorists use the same communication channels as well as transport channels. Firstly, international tourism is mostly based on air travel. As such, airplanes are the primary means of transport. This is the main transport used since it is faster and convenient when travelling abroad. Similarly, terrorists use the same means of transport in their travel. They travel across the world for various reasons. Firstly, they travel when conducting plans in preparedness to attack a give place or target tourist. Besides, they travel a lot conducting their transactions. This leads to the mix-up making it very difficult for the security agencies to identify them. However, advanced security mechanisms have been instrumental in identifying terrorists claiming to be tourist and arresting them. This has enabled the security agencies to save various people targeted by the employees (Ahlfeldt, Franke & Maennig, 2015). IMPACT OF TERRORISM ON INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM IN THE FUTURE There are various impacts of terrorism on international tourism in the in the future. To discuss all these effects, in summary, three main areas affected will be summarized. EFFECTS ON ECONOMY Most of the countries across the globe are developing the tourism industry since it is one of the leading in income generation. The sector is a source of employment to various people within a given nation. As such, it plays a vital role in ensuring that a nation can generate foreign income and also pay international debts. One of the main effects of the tourism is that it substantially increases the risk of investing in tourism. Governments and private investors will have heavy fears if the levels of terrorism keep on improving. This is mainly because the chances of getting returns will be very low. Terrorist attacks also substantially reduce the number of tourists visiting the affected country leading to the reduction of foreign currency generate. To support this, Ranabhat asserts that “In Greece and Spain in1992 the foreign investment was reduced due to terrorist activities and also reduced the number of tourists (Ranabhat, 2015 pp.27). EFFECTS ON TOURISM SECTOR American Tourism industry fell on September 11, 2011, and took almost three years to be recovered. One of the most significant impacts is that several people lost their jobs. As such, their standard of living substantially dropped. In addition to the above, various businesses were affected, and people were no longer able to travel. The incident also led to the cancellation of various travel tickets and trips for security reasons. The terrorist attacks resulted in the loosing of more than two billion dollars in less than two weeks. This is primary because the United States of America is among the leaders in the tourism markets. Due to the attacks, the economy of the United States substantially decreased. However, this did not only affect the employment of people only but also the hotel and restaurant businesses (Mukesh & Priyanka, 2014 pp.30). This is a clear indication that there is a substantial need to deal with the issue of terrorism. If the rates at which terrorists attack countries continue, the economy of most of the nations will fall in future. On the positive side, if the right policies and regulations to counter terrorists are implemented the tourism sector will substantially grow and develop. As such, a lot of employment opportunities will be created, and nation’s economy will grow at higher rates. There is a substantial need for the government and other security agencies ensure that the tourism sector is protected and safeguarded from all terror threats. One way of doing this is to formulate policies that can be instrumental in fighting against the vice. These rules and policies should be in a better position to deal with the violators in a strong manner possible. This should be a way of sending strong message to other terrorists to avoid using tourism as a way of achieving their goals. The implementation of universal laws will be essential in the fight against terrorism and the implications will not only be limited to tourism. As well, other sectors that are essential to the growth and development of economy will be boosted (Mukesh & Priyanka, 2014). EFFECTS ON THE MUSLIM NATIONS AND THEIR TOURISM Muslim nations are substantially affected since they are closely linked with terrorist groups. One of the most significant of these terror groups includes Al Qaeda that is based in a Muslim nation. Terrorism substantially affects the Muslim nations such as Egypt, Jordan, and South Arabia that depends on international tourism to generate income. This is primary because most tourists from all parts of the world and especially Non-Muslim nations fear for their safety. Terror attacks have led to the cancelation of several tickets to this nation’s resulting in the reduction of international tourists visiting these regions. Ranabhat argues that “After one month of the 9/11 attacks, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported that the world air travel lost 12 billion US dollars” (Ranabhat, 2015 pp.34). This is a clear indication that there is need to ensure that terrorism is dealt with accordingly to avoid such losses. Therefore, the success of tourism in the Muslims nations substantially depends on the level of terrorism. If terrorism keeps on increasing then, the nations will continue suffering the associated setbacks in the tourism sector. EFFECTS OF TERRORISM ON DESTINATION IMAGE Most of the countries affected by terrorism have a negative global image as compared to the countries that are clean and not associated with terrorism. Research reveals that tourists prefer to travel to regions or countries whereby the image is right. Therefore, one of the most significant responses to the negative image is crisis management. Baker asserts that “The industry must conduct recovery marketing or marketing integrated fully with crisis management activities” (Baker, 2014 pp.7). As well, media plays a vital role in shaping the affected destinations image globally. Thus, the affected nations must implement the mechanism of marketing their tourism as a way of responding and rebuilding their image. CONCLUSION Several factors can be attributed to the rapid growth and development in the international tourism. One of the most significant factors is economic growth where most nations have advanced over the previous years. Secondly, there is an increased ease of travel where people can cheaply travel to another nation for recreation or related activity. As well, adding up to the growth and development include government support of tourism, advanced tourism marketing, and an increase of disposable income and vacation time. Despite all these, terrorism is still one of the biggest challenges in international tourism. There is a complex relationship between international tourism and terrorism. Primarily, terrorists use tourist to accomplish their ideological objectives. Secondly, terrorist considers the tourist as the ambassadors of their respective nations. Besides, terrorists circulate across the globe conducting their transactions and making it difficult for the government and security agencies to trace them. Lastly, there are several predicted impacts of terrorism in the tourism sector in the future. Most of the effects notable affect the economy, the tourism sector, the image of the destination, and the Muslims nations. Lastly, the government and the relevant security agencies should adopt new techniques and advanced technology to counter terrorism. One of the relationships between tourists and terrorists was clearly indicated in that they use same communication and transport channels. The use CCTV cameras and other technologies should be enhanced in planes, airports, and restaurants to be able to identify fishy activities. As a result, the issue of terrorism will be substantially reduced, enhancing economic growth and development. Finally, this will enable the international tourists to travel anywhere across the globe without fear of attacks or related issues. REFERENCES Ahlfeldt, G. M., Franke, B. & Maennig, W. 2015. Terrorism and international tourism: the case of Germany. Jahrbücher für Nationalökonomie und Statistik, 235 (1). pp. 3-21. ISSN 0021-4027 Baker, D.M.A., 2014. The Effects of Terrorism on the Travel and Tourism Industry. International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage, 2(1), p.9. Koroma, A., 2011. The Ongoing Effect of Terrorism on the Hospitality & Tourism Industry (Doctoral dissertation, Ball State University). Mukesh, R. &Priyanka P. 2014. Terrorism terrorizes tourism: Indian Tourism effacing myths? International Journal of Safety and Security in Tourism. Issue 5, pp. 26-39 Ranabhat, K., 2015. Effects Of Terrorism In Tourism Industry: A Case Study of 9/11 Terrorist Attacks in World Trade Center. Sönmez, S.F., 1998. Tourism, terrorism, and political instability. Annals of Tourism Research, 25(2), pp.416-456. Seabra, C., Abrantes, J.L. and Kastenholz, E., 2014. The influence of terrorism risk perception on purchase involvement and safety concern of international travellers. Journal of Marketing Management, 30(9-10), pp.874-903. Read More