The negative impact of terrorism on tourism: Not just a problem for developing countries?

Abstract

The negative impact of terrorist activity on international tourism has been repeatedly reported on from many studies in the past. However, the results of these studies are consistent only for developing countries with low political stability. In the case of developed countries with a stable political regime, the findings are contradictory, varying from studies that have registered a significant negative impact of terrorism on tourism to studies reporting no significant relationship between these variables. The aim of this paper is to present new information about the relationship between terrorism and tourism in developed countries. For this reason, monthly statistics of tourist arrivals and terrorist attacks in European Union member countries were utilized. The results indicate that terrorist attacks may damage tourism even in developed countries. This potential, however, concerns only the most serious terrorist attacks. Moreover, even in this case, the effect was only short-term, lasting two months after the attack. Crisis management procedures such as enforcement of security measures, government subsidies for the tourism sector during the recovery phase after the terrorist attacks or crisis signal detection are recommended to reduce the risk of a terrorist attack and its negative impact on tourism.