Tourism, Security and Safety From Theory to Practice

Conclusion
The study of security induced tourism crises has generated many case studies that
successfully characterized and analyzed those crises. However, as indicated by
Sönmez (1998a), Cavlek (2002), and others, much less theoretically developed is
the discussion on how to effectively manage those crises. This chapter made an
effort to explore one component of tourism crisis management, namely, the signif-
icance and role of crisis communication and security information.
Following an in-depth and critical theoretical discussion on the “risk construct,”
the chapter placed the role of security information and its communication in a
crisis-management conceptual framework. The discussion was then directed
toward a theoretical analysis of how the existing security information sources oper-
ate vis-à-vis tourists and the tourism industry in the generating markets.
Subsequently, the discourse on the role of information in risk reduction strategies
exposed the main current security information sources, and explained why they
could not be left as the sole actors of crisis communication in times of a security
crisis affecting a given tourism industry and local communities. That discussion
was then related to the concept of travel behavior sequence. It was argued in the
chapter that until recently risk reduction strategies concentrated mostly on poten-
tial travelers who are engaged in a destination choice process. This chapter advo-
cated an alternative approach, calling for the extension of such strategies to also
target would-be travelers who had already booked their holidays, tourists experi-
encing their holidays on-site, and those returning from their recent trip. It was
claimed that security information should reach and become available to these trav-
elers too. After all, they could also be susceptible to security situations and thus
might take drastic measures and cancel their booked trip or evacuate destinations
as their perceived risk levels cross their acceptable risk threshold. It is further
claimed that, in many cases, such drastic measures by tourists can be avoided if
they become exposed to accurate, balanced, comprehensive, up-to-date, interpre-
tive, and evaluative information on the security situation and the ways it changes
over time and space. A framework conceptualizing a proposed security informa-
tion platform is exposed and explained in light of the need for such security infor-
mation. This concept calls for the dynamic and proactive supply of security
information by the affected receiving countries that have not explored this path in
their crisis-management strategies so far. Thus the main conclusion of this chapter
is that if such a risk reduction strategy is adopted by affected countries, the loss of
income, clientele, jobs, and reputation as a result of security induced tourism crises
will be substantially mitigated. Obviously, this conclusion is based on the theoret-
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ical review provided above and on the consequent conceptual development in its
wake. In order to test the improved efficiency of crisis management strategies after
such a security information platform is introduced, there is a need to implement
this idea and to examine its practicalities.