TOURISM AND TERRORISM

The growth of international tourism in the second half of the twentieth century has lead to think that it would enhance interactions between people of different cultures, and therefore attenuate misunderstandings, leading to more tolerance and peace (Tomljenovic & Faulkner, 2001, pp. 18-19). But has international tourism really contributed to more stability in the world? The beginning of the twenty first century demonstrates that major terrorist attacks around the world have led to major crisis in the tourism industry, the 11th September attacks considered as the most significant ones, changing ‘the way the industry operates forever’ (Santana, 2004, p.299).

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has defined terrorism as ‘the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives’. It links to tourism in three possible ways, when it is aimed towards civilians but also hits tourists, when economic targets related to tourism are aimed, and finally when terrorism targets tourists directly (Pizam & Mansfeld, 2006, p.4). The direct consequences are very negative for the destination, impacting the tourist’s behaviour who usually cancels his trip, on the tourism industry with the retrieval of tour operators and investors, on both local and generating markets governments as well as the media coverage of the event (pp. 6-9). The media coverage is very critical, as with globalization and advances in technology, a worldwide audience is reached, therefore influencing its vision of the destination (Santana, 2004, p.305). As well as affecting this wealthy industry, mass media coverage is also a primary goal for terrorists (Llorca-Vivero, 2008, p.171).

Tourism crisis arising from terrorist attacks can therefore be very damaging for communities for which their economy depend on tourism, and in order for the