As new destinations emerge at a time of global change,
we are witnessing how ethnic, cultural and religious
differences together with different political agendas across
the globe can cause various tensions. As a result political
unrest, terrorist attacks and civil riots are becoming more
of a reality. All such things impose a threat to the future of
tourism.
Governments around the world are facing numerous
political issues that might influence tourism in destinations.
For example, riots in Greece have been an influence on
Greek tourism both in the short and long-term. Short-term
problems occurred with the media warning tourists to
avoid traveling to Greece. Long-term concerns might be
losing investments and investors’ confidence in the tourism
sector due to financial instability. An example of a recent
political issue is the EU’s struggle with the flow of migrants
and its own asylum policies. More than 800,000 refugees have already arrived this year in Europe and the European
commission estimates up to three million refugees arriving
in 2016. How to solve this problem remains a pressing
question for the EU.
Terrorism threats or tragic events might cause a major
setback for any destination, but in a tourist destination it is
also likely to decrease the number of international visitors.
The most recent tragic attacks in France are opening key
questions on how to address this global threat. Other
recent terrorist attacks that have occurred in Egypt, Tunisia
and Thailand, had a direct negative impact on tourism.
Crisis management is therefore becoming a necessity for
destination managers.
Transportation insecurity is also a potential issue for
travellers, often caused by terrorism attacks on airports
and on trains. Europeans currently fear for the security of
their rail system after the attempted terrorist attack which
occurred in France in the summer of 2015. Furthermore,
travellers are facing a problem of waiting longer at security
check points before boarding and they might face further
inconvenience by having difficulty in storing their baggage
at the airport due to security reasons.