Tourism and Terrorism - Coursework Example

Tourism and terrorism s Submitted by s: Introduction The tourism industry in the entire globe has grown exponentiallyin the last few decades and the economic significance of this sector along with its proximal causes has made the industry become a critical component of most of the national economies (Lewis-Cameron and Roberts, 2010, p. 150). Consequently, national administrations have put more emphasis on the progressive development of their respective tourism sectors while exploiting their efforts in order to achieve better qualities and enhanced standards in relation to services (Horner and Swarbrooke, 2005, p. 13). Tourism remains a critical component of the economy for individuals as well as the country as a whole, but regardless of the attention that the tourism industry has gained and the stress on constant development and advances, there are some dynamics that cannot be controlled and result in substantial and, in other cases, severe effects in the tourism sector. Overview The economic significances of tourism for a nation cannot be doubted and for numerous developing nations, tourism is a key source of revenue, making it an integral part of the economic development of the nation (Chakraborty and Ray, 2014, p. 87). Nonetheless, numerous negative occurrences such as terrorism might exist therefore wreaking havoc on the tourism sector of a particular country. Terrorism affects tourism in adverse ways at it may result in various repercussions including deflation and increased rates of unemployment. The contributions made by tourism to any nation are so immense that slumps in the industry become a key cause of concern for numerous governments. The ramifications become evident in numerous other sectors that are linked to the tourism industry including airlines and hotels that cater for the tourists when they visit their destinations (Connell and Rugendyke, 2008, p. 159). Therefore, terrorism has an impact on the tourism industry as well as the sectors of economy that are both directly and indirectly linked to it and the effects can be minimal or huge based on the degree of dependence on this sector. Conversely, the developing nations that have a huge dependence on tourism experience more ramifications compared to the countries that do not have a lot of dependence on the sector (Keefer and Loayza, 2008, p. 36). Nevertheless, the psychological effect associated with terrorism is enough to cause a disruption in the tourism sectors of most of the nations but the more developed nations may be able to absorb some of the impacts to the economy before they can cause too much damage. The smaller countries, especially the developing nations that are completely reliant on tourism may reach points of collapse as a consequence of the effects of terrorism to the tourism industry as was demonstrated through the bombings in Bali. Impact of terrorism on tourism Conflicts along with crises are components are evident in the day-to-day activities of human beings and they will remain part of human nature. Regardless of tis fact, the effect of terrorism as a form of conflict on a country’s economy as well as other sectors may be huge and may result in unemployment, homelessness as well as economic and social disasters. The contributions that are associated with tourism and travelling to both industrialized and developed countries are of immense proportions to the point that any form of downturns in the level of activities in the industry becomes a cause for concern. The ramifications go past the activities that are directly connected to tourism especially in the airline industry and hotels, to the suppliers of the commodities that are purchased by the organizations and workers in the industry (Laws, Prideaux and Chon, 2007, p. 350). In short, almost all the areas of the economy feel the impact of terrorist attacks to varying degrees. Presently, dealing with terrorism has become a herculean task and the issue of terrorism affecting the tourism industry has become an issue of great significance (Talwar, 2006, p. 10). Tourist destinations and the people who visit them have for a long time been considered as soft targets by terrorists and since the tourism industry greatly depends on external contributions, a huge part of the industry is relies on the locations and environments where the tourist activities take place (Wang and Pizam, 2011, p. 318). The demand and supply associated with the tourism industry have a high level of sensitivity and vulnerability to external occurrences, particularly the extreme and unpredictable ones such as attacks by terrorists. In most cases, terrorists attack tourist destinations and the tourists themselves on purpose, and use them as a means of achieving what they are after. Terrorist attacks on tourists normally get the attention of the whole world through different forms of media, and in the process, the main agendas of the terrorists are achieved as their main aim is getting the attention of the world to express their opinions (Kellner, 2003, p. 52). In this regard, only the conditions that have no form of threats from terrorism are most ardent for developments in terms of tourism and tourist destinations. Nevertheless, terrorism has remained a source of threat for the tourism industry as well as the tourists themselves and has continued to become a pertinent issue in the sector in the past decade. Terrorist attacks on tourists or the destinations they visit may result in casualties as well as economic and environmental losses in the places where these attacks occur (Chen, 2012, p. 152). Immediately after terrorist attacks take place, many people are left dead; there is extreme damage on infrastructure as well as supplies such as electricity and water and communication networks breakdown (Friend and Kohn, 2010, p. 305). At such a time, this destruction greatly affects the tourism industry as good transport and communication structures greatly contribute to the overall tourism sector. The transportation of tourist to their destination and within their preferred destination becomes difficult or impossible when terrorism activities target these areas (Tahmisoğlu and Özen, 2009, p. 117). When the accessibility to the tourist destinations decreases, the effects of tourism on supply also decrease considerably. In the United States, the immediate loss that was associated with the September 11, terrorist attack was more than twenty one billion dollars and this occurrence went on to bring further economic effects. Apart from the instantaneous noticeable effects, a terrorist attack has the potential of leaving even further severe repercussions in regard to tourism in the area that has been targeted by the terrorism. In regard to the 9/11 attacks the marketability of the areas was threatened but the effects of the attack were widespread as the United States was a leading destination in terms of international tourism prior to the attack. The Bali attack that took place in October 2002, which was a series of bombings that specifically targeted tourists in the town of Kuta, resulted in more than two hundred deaths and a higher number of injuries of which the majority were tourists (Jackson and Baker, 2005, p. 70). Three years later, a subsequent attack occurred where a series of bombs went off at two different locations in Jimbaran causing more than twenty deaths and injuring more than one hundred people. Only a month after the initial bombing, the tourism sector in Bali was already feeling the ripple effects associated with the attack (Hitchcock, 2009, p. 10). The tourist sector experienced a considerable decline in the number of monthly visitors with only thirty one thousand visitors in November, which was less than fifty percent of the usual visitor arrivals that had been recorded in the previous year. After the attacks, hotel booking rates have never increased over forty percent in majority of the hotels since the initial attacks. In some areas, the occupancy in the hotels barely reaches ten percent. Impact of tourism on terrorism Even though terrorism has a huge impact on tourism and there has been a lot of discourse concerning this subject, there is a relative lack of clarity on the impact of tourism on terrorism. In the past decade, various terrorist activities have been reported in different tourist destinations and the places where people gather in large numbers such as Bali, Mumbai and New York, with ramifications that have been felt throughout the globe. Subsequent to these attacks, various stringent security initiatives have made sure that there is a sense of calm in most of the places in the world. As a result, tourist numbers have begun to increase steadily with an increase in the number of flights in majority of the routes (Veal, 2010, p. 298). More people are travelling for different reasons including leisure and business, and these journeys at one point or another provide adventures and movements for the people travelling for business, tourists or the regular travellers. Therefore, all the types of travelling can be considered as a type of tourism. Therefore, the levels of security and safety need to be increased to ensure that people can be able to travel without worrying that they will encounter acts of terrorism. The developing countries should take measures that ensure threats of terrorism are eliminated in they wish to reap more from the tourism sector. In the case of India, there are indications that the tourism sector is starting to flourish with more than six hundred and fifty million local travellers visiting different places in India every year (Ball, Horner and Nield, 2007, p. 142). Most of the destinations that are visited by tourists have remained peaceful and free from any incidents and the biggest pilgrims gathering reached a peaceful conclusion at Rishikesh in 2010 when more than one hundred million visitors visited Rishikesha and Haridwar for sacred dips in River Ganga. Regrettably, there are some locations in India where tourists cannot be allowed to visit for various reasons that range from existential to the misappropriation in the local politics. Regardless of these setbacks, India has been predominantly free from incidences of a terrorist nature especially those targeting the tourism sector. As demonstrated by the case of India, the success of the tourism industry has been critical to keeping troublemakers away and apart from attracting more people. Therefore, if tourism is supported by stringent security measures, there is a possibility of having societies that are free from trouble, improved businesses, enhanced spirits of goodwill and ultimately a chance to share the gains associated with tourism and travel with everyone. Tourist can be integral in reducing the cases of terrorism since when tourism develops into a movement in particular destinations that comprise of heritage sites and landmarks it subconsciously becomes compulsory for the local people to protect the movement of visitors and sites that attract the tourists. The terrorists are likely to be deterred when the local people start playing a more active role of taking and reporting suspect activities and unknown people to the relevant authorities. An increased interaction between the local people and the tourists leads to a better appreciation of the local culture thereby enhancing diversity and creating respect for cultures (May, 2010, p. 55). In the process, myths can easily be dispelled and this allows people who previously did not appreciate a particular culture to embrace the cultures. This may be considered as a factor that has a capacity to dissuade terrorism as tourism will makes sure that mischief and activities that are aimed at injuring people and destroying places has no place. Further, security that is more stringent measures guarantees that the people who intend to cause damage and harm are not allowed into tourist destinations through increased screening at the border controls and gateways points which will lead to an unequalled movement of visitors to particular destinations. When a destination is considered safe and secure, tourism will lead to the growth of these areas and deters the activities associated with terrorists to a minimum. Conclusion The outcomes of disasters such as those associated with terrorism are in most cases tragic and difficult situations for the people that are targeted as well as those who are afflicted. In regard to tourism destinations, terrorism disasters may present crises that threaten the smooth operations and conducts of the business that are associated with tourism. They also negatively affect the overall reputation of the tourist destinations in terms of security, desirability, as well as comfort through changing the attitudes of the tourists regarding that destination. This in turn causes a slump in the domestic travel and tourism economy while creating interruptions in businesses linked to domestic travel and the industry by reducing the arrival and spending of the tourists. Numerous administrations and firms, local communities together with the tourists have become more concerned with the effect of their activities on the society, the environment as well as the cultures of other people and these changes may assist in making the tourism industry better and safer. The power of tourism in creating peace should not be taken too lightly and the tourism industry should be given more attention since apart from being a highly sensitive source of revenue for countries, may also be deterrent of conflicts such as terrorism. Bibliography Ball, S., Horner, S. and Nield, K. 2007, Contemporary hospitality and tourism management issues in China and India, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford. Chakraborty, K. and Ray, N. 2014, Handbook of research on strategic business infrastructure development and contemporary issues in finance, Business Science Reference (an imprint of IGI Global), Hershey. Chen, J. 2012, Advances in hospitality and leisure, Emerald, Bingley. Connell, J. and Rugendyke, B. 2008, Tourism at the grassroots, Routledge, London. Friend, M. and Kohn, J. 2010, Fundamentals of occupational safety and health, Government Institutes, Lanham, Md. Hitchcock, M. 2009, Tourism in Southeast Asia, NIAS, Copenhagen. 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