The extent of the impact of terrorism on international travel and tourism at specific tourist destinations

This study reviews the relationships between tourism and terrorism, and in particular their impacts on tourism demand. Following a review of the literature, the effects of specific terrorist incidents involving tourists which occurred in different countries during 1997 are considered. These incidents included: a bomb attack at a shopping mall in Jerusalem, Israel, in September; a truck bomb explosion in the Sri Lankan capital of Colombo in October; and the killing of 58 tourists near Luxor in Egypt in November. To explore the impacts of these incidents on tourism demand, statistical data concerning tourist arrivals in each of the countries concerned were analysed. Whilst, due to the nature of the research and its methodological limitations, the findings were not intended to be applicable to a wider population, the results do indicate that terrorism involving tourists was particularly influential in shaping tourism flows, though in some cases the impact on tourism demand is delayed. Copyright © 2000 Perpetuity Press Ltd.