Mass tourism, mass marketing massacre

There is only one thing that matters to tourism this week. Events in Paris and subsequently in Belgium have again put tourism in the ‘potential danger’ category.

The fact is that if you’re a terrorist looking for quick, mass global news coverage, slaughtering innocent people – preferably tourists – will get you immediate, powerful results.

Unfortunately for the global travel and tourism industry, the higher the profile of the destination, and the more it is filled with tourists from developed countries, the higher the news value.

The 9/11 attacks on New York in 2001 not only had relatively short-term massive damage to the New York tourism industry but it also put many other destinations in question.

Moreover the security measures enacted as a response to 9/11 have made travel a much more uncomfortable chore rather than the pleasurable activity it once was.

However successful the measures taken against DAESH, the current global perpetrators of terror, now this ruthless marketing formula has been perfected it will not go away – whatever the politicians promise.

So we can all look forward to a world where a billion tourists may be a billion opportunities for terrorists too.

The age of tourism naivety was probably over many years ago, but is certainly dead and buried now.

Of course this is depressing, but there is nothing that anyone can do about it now, so it is best to look at the challenges and opportunities that this situation presents.

It would be sad to surrender to the terrorists unconditionally by throwing away the enormous opportunities that tourism and individual tourists provide for global understanding, communications and peace.

The message offered by the International Institute for Peace through Tourism http://www.iipt.org/ was never more powerful than now and, if supported can help to turn this disaster into many real opportunities for a more healthy tourism industry. If this issue gains more global credibility and support many other such organizations like Tourism for Peace www.tourismforpeace.com may spring up too.

It is also certain that the reaction to this darkening of clouds over the tourism industry, and a revision of destination carrying capacities to recognize security issues, will offer many real opportunities for… less crowded places, minimal impact tourism, more community-managed inclusive offers, it also offers many opportunities for care-based travel agents and tour operators who could look after their clients interests from departure to return arrival.

In other words Sustainable Tourism Practices.

Valere Tjolle

Want to know how? The above is an excerpt from this week’s update of SustainableTourism2015 where the full folio can be obtained