Tourism, Security and Safety From Theory to Practice

Attitude towards Destinations in Times of Crisis
By analyzing the problems that tour operators have had in the last decade with safety
and security issues in many receiving countries, certain factors come to light. Travel
agencies in the generating markets do not want to sell holidays to risky destinations,
even if they have a client who is interested in them, as was the case in Croatia. Many
clients who intended to spend their holidays there during the time of crisis were dis-
couraged by their travel agencies from purchasing package trips from Croatian tour
specialists. Some of these clients decided to book the holiday directly from the spe-
cialists. But the question arises, how many clients accepted the advice and instead went
to other destinations? This clearly suggests that travel agencies are not willing to risk
the problems their customers might face at unsafe destinations, a situation that also
applies to foreign tour operators. To protect the interests of their clients, as well as their
own interests, they withdraw from the country at risk and delete it from their program.
Media and journalists in such situations will not recommend to their readers or
viewers that it is safe to travel to a destination their government considers to be a
risky zone, even when they themselves might have been to the destination and are
convinced that some parts of the country are safe. It should also not be forgotten
that media bombard readers and viewers with news during the time of crisis and
people find negative reports far more interesting than positive. The media and jour-
nalists are very much aware of this tendency. Further, insurance companies do not
cover damage that is the result of violence, military actions, and the like. Insurance
premiums for aircraft and buses operating to an area of high risk (which do not
cover total risk) are dramatically higher than premiums in normal circumstances.
Once imposed, travel restrictions to a particular country under risk of war cannot
easily be changed. Foreign governments prefer to lift restrictions for the whole coun-
try when all is safe. When the governments of generating countries do not issue spe-
cial warnings to tourists to avoid particular countries or destinations, it is up to tour
operators to decide how to react to each case. The problem arises when clients want
to cancel their holidays themselves, even though tour operators do not intend to stop
their program there. Although they have contractual rights with their clients to ensure
payment is made for the journey, the final decision usually depends on the particu-
lar situation. Tour operators will try to consider what is in the interest of their clients
and also what is in their own interest for the protection of their own good image.
The growth of terrorism, crime, and violence in the world has given rise to a new
problem: tourists as targets of terrorist and criminal acts (Cavlek, 1998). As pointed
out by Richter and Waugh (1986), tourists are targeted for their symbolic value. For
terrorists, the symbolism, high profile, and newsworthiness of the international tourist
Tour Operators and Destination Safety
339
H7898_Ch18.qxd 8/24/05 8:54 AM Page 339

---

are too valuable to be left unexploited (Sönmez, Apostolopoulos, and Tarlow, 1999,
p. 15). The responsibility of tour operators toward their clients means that they cannot
neglect this very fact. In cases of uncertain disruptions, they will usually stop their
operation to the particular country for a period of time until local governments under-
take adequate measures to diminish safety risks. Alternatively, tour operators will sig-
nificantly reduce their capacity to the destination. In this way they keep the destination
in their program, but at the same time try to minimize their risk of operation. The can-
celing or omission of a particular destination from a tour operator’s program is also a
signal to individual tourists that the destination is not safe (Cavlek, 1998). Thus, tour
operators influence the way a particular destination is viewed, because their behavior
toward it affects the attitude of all potential tourists. In this way, they influence the
image of a destination and thus have a direct impact on the tourism income of a par-
ticular country. The business interests of tour operators and their partners in the
receiving country in such situations lose their common ground, and marketing a des-
tination in generating markets becomes their main problem. The respective destina-
tion thus stays without direct and adequate support on foreign markets, since their
tourism mostly depends on outside tour operators. There have been many examples of
such behavior in tour operators. A few cases of the reactions of foreign tour operators
toward countries hit by safety and security risks support the points raised.
China 1989
After Beijing’s Tiananmen Square incident, Silk Cut Travel cancelled the whole
summer program for the country; China Travel Service cancelled all travel until
September; and Voyages Jules Verne cancelled all travel until July. In total about
300 groups cancelled their travel plans, and the country’s tourism earnings
declined by $430 million in 1989 (Gartner and Shen, 1992).
Egypt 1992–1994
Over 120 tourists were targeted by Islamic terrorist attacks during this period.
Some European tour operators struck the country from their program entirely, but
most of them reduced their capacities significantly. In 1992–1993, the biggest tour
operator in Europe, TUI, sold 30% fewer holidays to Egypt than the previous year,
while Tjaereborg sold 77% fewer. In 1993–1994, the former further reduced its
sales to Egypt by 22% and the latter by 27% (FVW-International, 1993). During
this time, Egypt recorded a significant drop in arrivals (22%), in tourist nights
(30%), and even more so in tourism income (43%) (Wahab, 1996). With signs of
recovery from the crisis, TUI immediately increased its sales to the country in
1994–1995 by 20% and in 1995–1996 went back to the country completely (158%
increase in sales compared to 1994/95) (FVW-International 1995; 1996).
Egypt 1997–1998
Most tour operators pulled out immediately after the terrorist attack in Luxor, in
which 64 tourists were killed. They repatriated their clients from Egypt or organized
Tourism Security and Safety: From Theory to Practice
340
H7898_Ch18.qxd 8/24/05 8:54 AM Page 340

---

other holidays for them in another country. Following travel advisory information,
foreign tour operators abandoned the destination in the winter season. In the sum-
mer of 1998, tour operators slowly started to reintroduce the country in their pro-
grams, but with only one tenth of their earlier number of clients.
Florida 1992–1994
After several killings of foreign tourists in different locations in Florida,
European tour operators still decided to keep Florida in their programs, but
gave their clients the opportunity of changing their previously booked holiday
to some other destination in their program, with an additional payment if
their choice was more expensive. Many of their clients favored this opportu-
nity. Tour operators themselves took some special security measures for their
clients. As the targets of the attacks were tourists using rental cars to sleep in
during the night, tour operators booked a hotel near the airport for their clients
who landed in Florida for late arrivals, so that a car could be hired the next
morning. The drop in tourists in 1993 from the British market alone was
around 10%.
Russia 1993–1994
After the news was broken on Moscow television in August 1993 that more than
4,000 people were affected by diphtheria in Russia, with 900 in Moscow alone, the
biggest British tour operator, Thomson, cancelled its whole Moscow and St.
Petersburg program for the whole year. Many other European operators did the
same. The clients who were supposed to travel there in August were informed of
the operator’s decision and were told that they could still travel, but that the tour
operator would not bear any risks in case of illness.
Turkey 1992–1994
Since 1991, the Kurdistan Worker’s Party had been directing their terrorist attacks
against tourists by bombing sites and hotels and even kidnapping tourists. Still,
major European tour operators did not cut Turkey from their program, but safety
problems resulted in a drop-off in tourism demand. For example, TUI had 10%
fewer clients than the year before, the second largest German tour operator, NUR,
14% less, etc. In 1993–1994, the safety situation did not change and TUI had a
decrease in sales of 47%, but in 1994–1995 quickly returned with a 67% increase
and in 1995–1996 with a further increase of 13%.
Turkey 1997–1998
The threat of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party terrorist attacks resulted in 11.1% fewer
German passengers flying to destinations in Turkey (ADV, 1998).
Tour Operators and Destination Safety
341
H7898_Ch18.qxd 8/24/05 8:54 AM Page 341

---