Tourism, Security and Safety From Theory to Practice

Table 4
Key Differences between Acts of Tourism Crime and Terrorism
Crime
Terrorism
Goal
Usually economic or social gain
To gain publicity and 
sometimes sympathy for a 
cause
Usual type of victim
Person may be known to the 
Killing is a random act and 
perpetrator or selected because 
appears to be more in line 
he/she may yield economic 
with a stochastic model. 
gain
Numbers may or may not be 
important
Defenses in use
Often reactive, reports taken
Some proactive devices such as 
radar detectors
Political ideology
Usually none
Robin Hood model
Publicity
Usually local and rarely makes 
Almost always is broadcast 
the international news
around the world
Most common forms in 
Crimes of distraction
Domestic terrorism
tourism industry are:
Robbery
International terrorism
Sexual assault
Bombings
Potential for biochemical 
warfare
Statistical accuracy
Often very low, in many cases 
Almost impossible to hide. 
the travel and tourism industry 
Numbers are reported with 
does every-thing possible to 
great accuracy and repeated
hide the information
often
Length of negative 
In most cases, it is short term
In most cases, it is long term
effects on the local 
unless replaced by new
tourism industry
positive image
Source:
Tarlow (2001, pp. 134–135).
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A Social Theory of Terrorism and Tourism
The Italian social commentator, Giovani Sartori, has brought the relationship
between modernity and internationalization to the forefront. Sartori suggests that
living in the age of television has turned 
homo sapiens
into 
homo videns
. By
connecting the idea of 
homo videns
with that of the global village, Sartori reminds
us that in a postmodern world any place is every place, that fear can now be trans-
mitted at the speed of light, and that careful manipulation of the media is essential
in postmodern warfare. Terrorism seeks worldwide publicity and tourism centers act
as magnets for such publicity. If postmodernity is centered around the concept of
the global village, then tourism is the social glue that unites this village. In the world
of images, terrorism is transformed from the horrendous event into the iconic event.
The tourism industry is the world’s largest peacetime industry. For example, in the
United State, it ranks as one of the top three industries in every state of the nation.
Tourism is also a major export item. Each year nations around the world see tourism
as a major source of revenue and as a means to earn foreign currency. It is then log-
ical that anyone seeking to destroy a national economy would seek as one of its tar-
gets that nation’s tourism industry. For these and some of the other reasons
mentioned below, tourism is a major battleground for terrorism and needs to be a
concern for anyone interested in his or her nation’s homeland. Benjamin Netanyahu
has noted “The societies targeted (by terrorists) have included Britain, Italy, France,
Holland, Spain, Germany, Japan, Argentina, Israel, and most recently the United
States itself. No country is immune and few are spared (Netanyahu, 2001, p. 7). Over
the last 30 years tourism providers and sites have been targets for terrorists. From the
viewpoint of the terrorist, some of these attacks have been very successful. A review
of terrorism over the last 30 years reveals that 1) there does not seem to be a rela-
tionship between a locale’s base population size and the act of terrorism. That is, ter-
rorism has occurred in all sorts of rural and urban settings and 2) acts of terrorism
tend to increase until decisive passive restraints plus active pursuit of terrorists occur.
A Social Theory of Terrorism and Tourism
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