Safety and Security in Airports - Report Example

This paper looks into safety and security in airports in relation to tourism. The issue of safety in airports is of considerable concern in regions that are considered as major destinations for tourists. Some factors act as major drivers for change in the tourism sector. These factors are of interest in any region, country or organization that wants to gain a competitive edge in the tourism sector. In addressing the issue of security and safety, the paper will also look into details the various drivers of change in the tourism sector. Methods used to analyze these drivers of change will as be discussed briefly. Introduction Air travel is a key contributor to tourism across the world. This is because the largest number of tourists relies on air travel to reach their preferred destination. Therefore, safety and security in airports is paramount for smooth running of tourism sectors in all regions of the world that are considered as tourist destinations. Many factors pose significant threats to the safety of airports. Therefore, airport security and safety is of greater concern than any other security. Passengers and air cargo are the two main entities that pose the highest treat to the security and safety of airports. Passengers are considered as a serious threat due to the increased number of terror activities occurring in airports (Sweet 2009, p.13). Discussion Terrorists target airports largely because of the social and economic damage that can arise once an airport has suffered a terror attack. The 9/11 terror attack motivated all leading airports to pay keen attention on improving the security and safety systems. Terrorists targeting airports are indistinguishable from passengers or authorized airport personnel. Airports being open, public environments that are visited by millions of people, their security and safety are always in question. Furthermore, anonymity of people visiting airports compromises the ability to identify people posing security threats (Bloom 2010, p.22). Apart from terrorism, other factors that pose a threat to the security and safety of airports include crime, airborne diseases such as avian flu, natural disasters associated with climatic changes, substance abuse, civil wars, strikes, and corruption. Air travels to African countries are classified as the most insecure compared to those of other continents. Many African nations are undergoing political transitions that are accompanied by acts of violence. In addition, economies of most African nations are not yet stable, which makes it difficult to take the necessary precautions in ensuring that air travel is safe. These factors among other issues affect the tourism sector across the globe, and without necessary measures in place, massive losses are likely to be incurred in regions with poorly protected airports (Altinay & Paraskevas 2008, p.33). Key Drivers The tourism sector is affected by several key drivers, other than security and safety of airports. A good understanding of these drivers gives room for essential change agents on the supply and demand sides of tourism. Impacts of drivers that affect tourism extend to all tourism destinations across the world. The most crucial thing in the development of a successful tourism sector is the ability to identify and handle with dynamics within key drivers of tourism. The greatest challenge facing tourism stakeholders in public and private tourism sector is the ability to deal with emerging changes proactively in order to have a competitive advantage over other organizations (Bloom 2010, p.24). The United Nations World Tourism Organization offers a number of key determinants and influences projected to affect the tourism sector till 2020. The five top most drivers of change are demographic, social factors, environmental, technological, globalization, and political. Other than understanding these drivers, knowledge on world events that affect consumers and suppliers is essential since they have an impact on the tourism sector. With sufficient knowledge on factors hindering the development of the tourism sector, tourism operators and destination managers are in a good position to come up with strategies that will enable them gain a competitive advantage over their competitors. Today, competition in the tourism industry is on the rise, and this is evident between world tourist destinations, domestic tourist destinations, and between tourism firms (Dwyer et al. 2008, p13). Tourism is integrated with other aspects of the economy, which implies that changes within the tourism sector are not in isolation from the key drivers that are projected to impact on the world in the future. Tourism trends that operate at the global level are known as megatrends since they impact on a large population of people. Analysis of these trends helps in the identification of more essential drivers of change and factors affecting future tourism and travel. Changes within the tourism sector create the basis for the development of long term policies and other vital developments that enhance growth in the tourism sector (Altinay & Paraskevas 2008, p.37). A project conducted by Dwyer and others with an aim to identify possible changes in the tourism sector by the year 2020 and key drivers of changes adopted the methodology of first carrying out an examination on the forecast on changes on tourism trends by 2020, which was done by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). The forecasts provided by the UNWTO provided the basis for the analysis of impacts of emerging trends in the tourism sector over the next 17 years. The project also made a discussion on global trends projected by futurists (Dwyer et al. 2008, p.3). The project took into consideration five key drivers believed to influence the overall changes in the tourism industry. Key divers under consideration were technological changes, political trends, social trends, globalization, and environmental factors. The use of these key drivers helped in the identification of trends at a global level that are likely to impact on the tourism sector by the year 2020. It was pointed out that single drivers will not dominate the global tourism industry by the year 2020, and individual drivers will produce varying impacts in various parts of the world, and the identified drivers have the potential to reinforce each other, and in some situations they will integrate with each other (Dwyer et al. 2008, p.4). Discussion of findings on the key theories Globalization Experts point out that the global economy is likely to have an impressive growth over the next decade. By the year 2020, the global economy may be close to 80% bigger than it was in the year 2000. This growth will lead to economic gains in both developed and developing nations. Globalization is by far considered as the trend to have a keen observation on due to its potential to shape the other key trends projected to impact on the tourism sector come 2020 (Dwyer et al. 2008, p.13). Globalization is derived from the ever ending changes in computing and telecommunications, development of free trade, and reduction in communism. Increase in international connectivity is likely to shape people’s way of life, weaken constraints within physical barriers, and expand on geographical scope. Therefore, globalization stands out as a powerful force that is capable of shaping regional and national economies. Tourism sector ranks among the fastest growing industries under the global economy. Tourism firms are more likely to become global by 2020 than it is today, and those that will make it to the global market will become more diverse in terms of size and origin (Dwyer et al. 2008, p.15). Globalization of tourism firms will create a shift in the global labor market whereby there will be an integrated labor force across the globe. In addition, the internet will offer a platform where tour firms can market their products and services as well as a platform for job seekers in the tourism industry to make job applications. Globalization has the danger of increasing a country’s vulnerability to insecurity due to reduced barriers for people intending to visit the country as foreign tourists. Therefore, the use of air travel is likely to facilitate crime to any destination across the world. Without stringent measures in place safety and security in airports is highly compromised with the increased globalization (Theobald 2012, p.462). Social trends Social trends that will have an impact on tourism and travel fall into three categories, which are demographics, lifestyle, and social values within a society. Shifts emerging from changes in social and demographics are offering serious challenges on almost all social institutions. Factors leading to current shifts include population and ageing, urbanization, health, gender, education among other social factors. Currently, the world population is growing at a rate of approximately 80 million people per year. However, it is projected that this rate will reduce to 50 million people per year by the year 2015. Much of the population growth is expected to occur in developing nations. Emerging economies are likely to cause an increase in life expectancy and a decline in fertility rates. This will cause an increase in the ageing population (Dwyer et al. 2008, p.17). Changes in demographics come with urbanization. The current trend is an increase in urbanization across all regions of the world. It is projected that over 60% of the world’s population will be living in cities. In addition, emergence of slums will go hand in hand with increased urbanization. Therefore, slum tourism is likely to increase by the year 2020. Slum tourism, being a product of globalization, faces a lot of controversy due to the nature of lifestyle present in slums. The highest number of crime activities occurs in urban and slum areas. Therefore, increased urbanization poses a security threat to the tourism sector (Cooper & Hall 2008, p.77). Political trends Politics in different regions of the world is likely to impact significantly on globalization and hence the tourism industry. Under political trends, terrorism is perhaps the greatest issue of concern in all nations across the globe. Increased terrorism activities and internal conflicts will hinder the growth of the tourism industry due to reduced air travels to countries affected by high incidences of terror attacks. It is projected that terror activities are likely to become decentralized due to the increased use of the internet. The increased use of the internet will cause an increase in cyber terrorism, whereby attackers are able to damage computer systems and information stored in computers (Sweet 2009, p.66). Increased costs in fighting terrorism are likely to hinder the globalization process. Therefore, tourism firms intending to take their operations to the global markets will have difficulties in marketing their products and services if they are operating from regions regarded to be under threats of terror attacks. Countries, which discourage their people from travelling into countries that are at a high risk of suffering from terror attacks, make it difficult for tour firms to sell their products in the global market (Cooper & Hall 2008, p.79). Environmental trends The current environmental problems are likely to remain and even get severe in future. It is projected that all regions of the world will suffer from environmental problems due to increased pollution, population growth, urbanization, and economic development. Shifts in climatic changes are projected to cause the most effects in the environmental trends. Main effects of climatic changes are felt at local and regional scale although regions neighboring the affected region may also experience the same effects of climatic change. Continued changes in climate are likely to cause the loss of tourist attractive sites such as beaches, glacial and polar ice, loss of wildlife due to drought plus other environmental damages (Spenceley 2008, p361). It is obvious that tourism is highly interconnected with the environment. Therefore, climate and the natural environment are crucial in determining the attractiveness of a region regarded to be a tourist destination. With this fact at hand, changes in climatic conditions will largely determine the destination tourists will prefer to take. Regions that will be regarded as a major tourist destination will be at high risks of attracting crime activities at arrival terminals such as airports. Targeting such regions may be geared towards discouraging tourists from visiting those regions with an aim of interfering with economic growth of regions that source much of their revenue from tourism (Theobald 2012, p.496). Technological trends Advancements in technology are contributing significantly in promoting competitiveness in the tourism sector. The use of ICT has brought the use of e-commerce in the tourism sector. With e-commerce, business transactions are done quickly with reduced costs, and many people are able to access online internal and external markets with ease. The numerous social networks have also created a platform through which tourism industries can advertise their products and services. In addition, emergence of search engine optimization technology enables players in the tourism industry to increase their chances of reaching a large number of consumers. Virtual tour guides placed online gives tourists a chance to have an experience of what is in their chosen tour destinies (Zhou 2004, p.129). Conclusion Tourism has several factors, which determine how well a region regarded as a tourist destiny will perform. The main drivers of change are demographic, social, political, environmental, globalization, and technological factors. These factors produce varying impacts that are either positive or negative on the tourism sector. Good knowledge on effects of each driver of change helps experts in the tourism industry in developing policies, which make a region to have a competitive advantage over other regions offering tour services. It is essential to look into the security of travel terminals such as airports once a region has gained a competitive advantage; making it the most preferred tourist destination. This achievement comes with increased security challenges that need urgent consideration before disaster strikes. References List Altinay, L. & Paraskevas, A. (2008). Planning Research in Hospitality and Tourism, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford. pp. 33-50. Bloom, R. W. (2010). Fear of Flying: Globalization, Security, and Terrorism. TR News 2 (4). pp. 21–27. Cooper, C. & Hall, C.M. (2008). Contemporary Tourism: An International Approach, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford. pp. 60-80. Dwyer, L., Edwards, D., Mistilis, N., Roman, C., Scott, N. & Cooper, C. (2008). Megatrends Underpinning Tourism to 2020: Analysis of key drivers for change CRC for Sustainable Tourism, New York, Taylor & Francis. pp. 5-36. Spenceley, A. (2008). Responsible Tourism: Critical Issues for Conservation and Development, Oxford, Earthscan. pp.361-365. Sweet, K. M. (2009). Aviation and airport security: terrorism and safety concerns. New York: CRC Press.pp.52-66. Theobald, W. F. (2012). Global Tourism, London, Routledge. pp.450-500. Zhou, Z. (2004). E-Commerce & Information Technology in Hospitality & Tourism, London, Cengage Learning pp.128-133. Read More