Travel >
Travel (Other)
Get a Widget for this title
RSS FeedHas Muslim extremism damaged world tourism irrevocably?
Results so far:
| No | 51% | 394 votes | Total: 773 votes | |
| Yes | 49% | 379 votes |
No
Write now
Print
Invite a writer™
Add to FavoritesI suppose that this question has been posed because of the lingering malaise caused to the airline industry after the calamitous events on 9/11, which will forever remain in people's memories. For a short while afterwards, there was certainly a disinclination to use airplanes, which meant people stayed close to home, changing vacation plans and cancelling business trips.
After some tie, things reverted nearly back to normal, even though some airlines had gone out of business in the meantime, unable to bear the costs of maintaining crew and aircraft that weren't earning money. Things had to get done, and people had to get around to get things done, or there would be even more serious financial disasters and, in a sense, the extremists would have 'won'. Flight schedules were reinstituted and security measures put in place.
There was also increasingly widespread acknowledgement that the disaster was a unique event. Such a thing had never even been imagined prior to its taking place; with new security regimes, it was extremely unlikely that it would take place again.
I travel widely and constantly, and am constantly surprised - no, astonished and amazed - and the thousands of travellers who journey the world. Spending time at a large airport like Heathrow, Chicago or Singapore certainly brings it home: tourists are out there, going where they want to go to do the things they want to do - to have a break from their home routines, and to experience different ways of living.
We live in an age when travel has become part of our culture; when flights are common and cheap, and cover nearly every city and town (even flights between Rome and Parma, LA and Santa Barbara! Our grandparents would have used the car or train for these distances!). And, with the fierce competition now waging on flight costs, the alert traveller can get some incredibly good bargains, which make a trip cost little more than a long-distance phone call to the same place might have cost previously.
The urge to travel, to see different spectacles and sights, and to report on these experieces to our nearest and dearest (or anybody else who will listen) is now deep within us. College students feel compelled to get not only to Europe, but to places that their parents would not have been able put on the map a few years ago - Mauritania? Laos? The ambition of many retirees is to set off on an extended trip to 'somewhere'.
The initial fears that people had after 9/11 - that the skies would never be safe again - are gradually fading, and confidence in air travel is increasing as we have regular proof that our vigilant police and security officials are able to protect us from disasters. As human beings, we not only have a great curiosity about the world, but being able to move around where we will is something like a basic human right.
Lastly, it is important for us to understand that all Muslims do not have extremist views, and travel is a great teacher, encouraging us to be more tolerant and inclusive of others, and so thus possibly avoiding the chance of such terrible attacks ever again.
Learn more about this author, Sue Myburgh.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
Yes
Unfortunately terrorist events (whether Islamic extremists in Afghanistan or drug cartels in Colombia or Somali pirates threatening cruise ships in international waters) have damaged tourism. It's natural that people do not want to travel to locations where they prerceive a threat to their safety. Better to spend their tourist dollars in their own home country or in those countries where such actions do not occur.
This is very unfortunate on many counts. First is that terrorist actions have led to the destruction of many historical sites, not only destroying the country's heritage but elminating tourist attractions. In Afghanistan, for example, terrorists blew up giant Buddhist statues that had been in the country for hundreds of years. No extra-governmental body could save them. Now it's a treasure lost to everyone. In Iraq, the national museum was ransacked, and some of the world's ancient artifacts (chronicling the history of Babylon) were lost or sold.
It's also unfortunate because this leads to a loss of tourist dollars to economies like Egypt and Indonesia, which rely heavily on tourist dollars to supplement their gross national product (GNP). After the terrorist bombing in Bali, reservations fell off. It's human nature to avoid areas of problems, particularly those where the tourist feels a loss of control. In countries like Israel, where bombings can occur at random, tourists must weigh heavily their decision to travel there. With the recent attack in Mumbai, India, there are sure to be many cancellations and a big loss of revenue, particularly at those hotels where the attacks were carried out.
Not only do these countries lose tourist income, they also lose something far more important: good will. People who travel the world are people who are exposed to different countries, and are more open minded. When people are forced to avoid a particular culture, like those in Muslim countries, it's natural that someone who hasn't visited will have skewed ideas about what it's like to live in those places. Opening the doors of your country is helping people from the outside see the beauty and goodness of one's own culture, allowing them to understand and bridge cultural differences. Travel brings about understanding between peoples.
Sadly, terrorism is a modern phenomenon that will continue to damage the building of good will between people and ruin the tourism business. And when that happens, everyone loses.
Learn more about this author, Christine Zibas.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
Difference of opinion? Debate now.
