Impact of Terrorist Attacks on Tourism and How to Prevent Acts of Terro

Introduction Acts of terrorism has greatly affected multiple countries, including the United States. The horrific events that took place on 9/11 left the American people shocked, devastated, and furious. Many innocent American’s lost their lives on this infamous day. While airports and airlines are not free from security breaches, a set of new security measures and requirements have been implemented by the International Air Transport Association and the International Civil Aviation Organization (Beirman, 2011). Increased security at airports and airlines, have left terrorists to target more vulnerable areas such as tourist destinations. Attacking tourists’ spots such as hotels, restaurants, nightclubs, conference venues and other forms of transportation such as buses, trains and rail terminals are an easier target for a terrorist group (Beirman, 2011). The main purpose of this paper is to inform the reader on how 9/11 impacted the tourism industry in recent following years after the attack, as well as to provide terrorism prevention strategies for tourism destinations. The attacks on 9/11 have significantly impacted the tourism industry in ways such as international, domestic and business arrivals, the economy and tourism business sectors, and citizen’s perceptions of traveling, thus resulting in researches coming up with strategies on how to prevent terrorism from happening at a tourism destination. Links and Trends Between Terrorism and Tourism Tourists may be victims of terrorism simply because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. However, in recent history there is more likely to be a link between tourism and terrorism. As seen throughout the news, there are multiple instances where terrorists are seen targeting tourists specifically, such as the Bali Bombings that took place in Bali. Reason being is that attacking tourists has a distinctive advantage for the terrorist group. First of all, many foreign tourists who are attacked are from so-called developed countries such as the United States, France, Italy, and other various countries. Attacking theses foreign tourists guarantees publicity for the terrorist group in that tourist’s home country (Horner & Swarbrooke, 2004). Having these countries give terrorist groups publicity makes terrorists feel they have accomplished their task and are becoming more power... ...1, September 9). The tourism legacy of 9/11 ten years on. Retrieved from http://www.eturbonews.com/25139/tourism-legacy-911-ten-years Bonham, Carl & Edmonds, Christopher & Mak, James (2006, February 22) The Impact of 9/11 and Other Terrible Global Events on Tourism in the U.S. and Hawaii [Case Study]. Retrieved from http://scholarspace.manoa.hawaii.edu/bitstream/handle/10125/3683/econwp087.pdf?sequence=1 Herman, E. (2002, June 10). Hotels rebound from 9/11 revenue loss hampers full recovery. Retrieved from http://articles.nydailynews.com/2002-06-10/news/18188960_1_room- rates-hotel-consultant-revenue-per-available-room Horner, S., & Swarbrooke, J. (2004). International cases in tourism management. (1 ed.). London, England: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann. Paraskevas, Alexandros & Arendell, Beverley (2007, February 8). A strategic framework for terrorism prevention and mitigation in tourism destinations [Case Study]. Oxford: Elsevier Publishing. Wolley, John, & Peters, Gerhard (2001, September 11). George W. Bush: "Address to the Nation on the Terrorist Attacks," September 11, 2001. Retrieved from http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=58057