Terrorism & tourismTerrorism and tourism: what cities should do to prepare for an attack
Citizens of the U.S. and the world were deeply shocked and saddened when a gunman shot and killed about fifty patrons at an Orlando nightclub this past weekend. While the shooter’s primary targets were the people enjoying an evening out, a secondary object of such incidents is typically tourism, with the aim of terrorizing a population so much that people don’t travel there, thereby harming the economy. An examination of how cities and other destinations react to shootings and other situations that negatively affect tourism reveals that there are several important lessons about what cities can do to assure tourists they can maintain their safety. Destinations that take a greater leadership role and provide accurate, relevant, and timely information to their visitors are more likely to win in this zero sum game. Those that are unorganized or silent are more likely to lose. Ultimately, tourists vote with their pocketbooks, and a destination’s relative safety may determine where they take their next trip.
Citizens of the U.S. and the world were deeply shocked and saddened when a gunman shot and killed about fifty patrons at an Orlando nightclub this past weekend.
While the shooter’s primary targets were the people enjoying an evening out, a secondary object of such incidents is typically tourism, with the aim of terrorizing a population so much that people don’t travel there, thereby harming the economy.
Thus it was no surprise that the United Nations World Tourism Organization was among the many groups to swiftly condemn the attack and express its condolences to the victims’ families and “full solidarity” with Americans.
But is sending messages of solidarity and support enough?
At the Tourism Crisis Management Initiative at the University of Florida, which I oversee, we conduct research on a host of issues to help inform management, marketing and policy decisions in the industry.
In recent years, we’ve looked into how cities and other destinations react to shootings and other situations that negatively affect tourism to uncover best practices to mitigate the impact. We’ve learned several important lessons about what cities can do to assure tourists they can maintain their safety.
Importance of tourism
Orlando relies on tourism as a major contributor to its economy. In fact, the city that is home to Disney World, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and SeaWorld received more than 60 million visitors in 2015, ranking it among the top destinations in the U.S. Tourism is responsible for an economic impact to surrounding Orange County of more than $60 billion annually.
While research confirms that crime and terror have a negative impact on the cities where they take place, the tourism industry has actually become more resilient in recent years.
For example, the time it takes to fully recover has declined significantly. Back in 2001, it took hotels in New York thirty-four months to return to pre-attack occupancy levels, while other U.S. cities averaged forty-five months following 9/11. Four years later, London hotels were back to normal occupancy just nine months after a series of suicide bombers on Underground trains killed 52 people. Perhaps this is because of London’s greater experience with terrorism attacks.
And more recently, the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 had only a limited impact on hotel occupancy rates – with some reporting that tourism actually surged.
