Tourism Security: Strategies for Effectively Managing Travel Risk and Safety

Abstract

Insecurity would seem to have become the new normal evidenced by the surge in terror-related activity in 2015. The hyper sensationalized Paris attacks eclipsing the speculated downing of a civilian aircraft in Sinai by terrorists just two weeks prior, the accidental killing of Mexican tourists by Egyptian security forces two months earlier, the deadly bombing of Bangkok’s Erawan Shrine three months before it, and a string of adverse events following the Charlie Hebdo shooting at the beginning of the year. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (2015a), safety and security remains a global concern compounded by a highly volatile economic climate buffeted by lower oil prices and currency fluctuations, all adversely impacting on tourism demand.

Keywords

• Tourism
• Security
• Strategies