Tourism Vs Terrorism: Remaining defiant and upbeat

In the aftermath of the Tunisian Beach massacre where 38 innocent souls have been senselessly ended, I silently contemplated whether we are safe to travel anywhere at all, or whether we are even safe at any place we might consider home. 

Tunisia is not the first tourism destination to be attacked and sadly it doesn't seem to be the last. Terrorism has undoubtedly caused some major setbacks to a host of tourism destinations over the years notably in Egypt and Indonesia.

The scene at the Imperial Mahaba Hotel in Sousse, Tunisa. Source: The Mirror

According to the BBC News Magazine, the Egyptian archaeological site of Luxor was attacked in 1997 leaving 62 people, mostly tourists dead. Similarly, the country’s resort of Sharm el-Shiekh was attacked in 2005 which left 88 people dead. Perhaps the most deadly of terrorist attack was in the Indonesian Island of Bali in 2002 where 202 people were reported killed and 209 injured.

My fear was compounded when the British Foreign Office urged Britons to leave Tunisia and advised against all non-essential travel to the country. This was of course to be followed by other Western countries which dealt a massive blow to the Tunisian Tourism Industry.

Luxor Archaeological site, Egypt. Source: BBC News Magazine

The good news is though; despite the short term handicap caused by these senseless attacks, affected destinations remain defiant and upbeat. Considering the 9/11 and the 7/7 attacks in New York and London respectively, these two major tourism destinations continue to record surge in visitor numbers. So did Indonesia and Egypt albeit not at the same level. Therefore, there is no doubt that Tunisia will also recover from this tragedy.

There are always lessons to be learned from incidents like this. However, we must always remain steadfast in our approach to stepping up security measures to counter such attacks. The BBC News Magazine reported that;

"Colombia's boom in tourism in recent decades has coincided with increased security and a regular army presence on major highways and tourist hubs, such as the Caribbean city of Cartagena, even though the country's war with leftist guerrillas continues. Similarly Mexico's tourist zones have been largely unaffected by the violence that has rendered other parts of the country ungovernable".

Source: BBC News Magazine

Hearing the Tunisian foreign minister criticised his country’s security forces for a slow response to the Sousse attack makes me ponder that they could learn from The Gambia Security Services lead in establishing a small military camp in the heart of the Tourism Development Area (TDA).

At its maiden stage, I had some scepticism about such a project as it was initially set up to tackle local youths (known as ‘bumsters’) unwelcome harassment to visitors, and illegal activities on beach resorts. I thought military presence on beach resorts might scare away visitors rather than protect them. I was of the view that beach security should entirely be left in the hands of hotel security officials and to some extent, the police. But how wrong I was to be proven yet again!

Today, as tourism destinations remain ever under threat from terrorist groups globally, I am proud to write that, other destinations could learn something from the Gambia Tourism/Security initiative in order to be able to swiftly deal with any imminent attack. From West, East, North and South, we stand together and remain defiant!