The Effect Of Global Terrorism On Travel Destinations: A Case Of Egypt And Tunisia

Tourism in Egypt and Tunisia

The effect of global terrorism on travel destinations: a case of egypt and tunisia

Tourism is considered to be a major contributor to most of the countries globally. Over the decades, there has been a major boom in the tourism industry attesting to increased marketing and diversification of tourism packages (Barrera & Garrido, 2017). In most countries, tourism is directly linked to development, and is considered to be a major driver for the socio economic development. It can also be noted that, tourism is a very dynamic sector, which is purely dictated by how well a market is be able to adapt to client ever changing needs; more so on their satisfaction, enjoyment and most importantly, safety(Hunter-Jones, 2016)

Tourism in simple terms can be described as, a collection of activities done by persons traveling to, staying and enjoying destinations that is not their normal day to day environment, in a period of not more than one year. Tourism can either be for leisure, for business, for education amongst many other purposes.

There are three major categories of tourism, with regards to destination. They include; outbound tourism, inbound tourism, and domestic tourism. Outbound tourism is involves the activities done by the residents of a specific country, travelling to and staying in a destination outside their own country for a period not exceeding one year. Inbound tourism on the other hand is where tourists from other countries visit a specific travel destination for a period of not more than a year. The last classification is domestic tourism which entails all the activities done by locals of a particular country, traveling to and staying in destinations but within their country for a period of not more than a year. (Ordo?n?ez de Pablos, Tennyson and Zhao, 2012)

According to a report on demographic change and tourism, (2010) the whole dynamics of how tourism was used to be has completely changed, with emphasis shifting from accommodations, to the various activities which the tourist are going to engage in. 

Egypt and Tunisia are recognized worldwide, as countries that depict strong tourism brands, offering a variety of tourism products (sports tourism, cultural tourism e.t.c,), and sites that attract tourists in millions every year. In both countries, tourism plays a major role in economic development; both in terms of direct generation of revenue to the locals, and taxation gained by the government emanating from tourism related activities. Tourism is also one of the sectors which employ the most people in both counties.

Terrorism in Egypt and Tunisia

Both countries receive troupes of tourists from both domestic market and inbound tourist coming from other countries. The level of success in their tourism sector, in light of the violent political changes in their governments, internal political tensions and both actual and reported imminent terrorist attacks, is amazing. The reasons why both markets have been able to survive the mentioned impediments needs to be researched as mentioned by several authors.  (Avraham, 2016, Ben Aissa & Goaied, 2014, Selmi & Dornier, 2017), 

According to Dalacoura, (2011), terrorism has been a major problem in most countries of the Middle East, Egypt and Tunisia being part of the targeted spots. This is a problem that the two countries are still combating with recent attacks being barely a year ago. The nature of terrorism for both countries comes from different reasons including; political differences, alleged fight for social justice, differences emanating from radical religious beliefs just to mention a few. Further analysis of terrorism will be reviewed in the later parts of this document.

The importance of tourism in the developmental agenda of many countries is undisputable. In fact quite a number of publications have been written to highlight the role of tourism on the growth of various countries (Ivanov & Webster, 2013).Through intense marketing drives by the Egyptian and the Tunisian governmenthave been trying to maintain their tourist numbers amidst increased terrorist attacks.

According to Thompson, (2011), terrorists tend to target major tourist destinations for the purposes of gaining as much attention as possible. The resultant effect is an imposition of travel advisories by foreign countries warning their citizens not to visit the countries affected. This further affects negatively the number of tourist visitations. In 2017, Egypt faced quite a number of such advisories by several foreign countries against them. This was after a terrorist attack which saw more than 300 people die.

The consistent attacks made by terrorist in both countries have severely impacted their growth in the tourism sector. This is in spite of all the marketing efforts put in place to revamp the sector. In a global market where there are quite a number of alternatives on offer, terrorist activities can setback the achievements gained by a substantial margin. For example, in the instance of Egypt, due to terrorism, their tourist numbers slumped by almost 42% between 2016 and 2017.

Such attacks or terror related activities as established have an adverse effect on the performance of the tourism sector as a whole. This research will therefore try to establish the various interrelationships on how global terrorism affects the overall perception of travel destinations with Egypt and Tunisia being the case study. It is in the hope that, from the findings of this research, all stakeholders involved, will have a new insight on how to tackle the issue of terrorism and properly formulate mitigation measures that will aid in cushioning the tourism industry from the adverse effects.   .

Statement of the problem

The objective of this study is to find out how global terrorism affects Egypt and Tunisia as preferred travel destinations.

From the findings of the study, there is an expectation that policy makers and other stakeholders especially those attending the World Tourism Market, Travel Tech show will receive insight on how to improve the tourism sector. The two countries, Egypt and Tunisia, are also to gain from the gathered information, which they can use to strengthen their tourism sector amidst combating the vice of terrorism. The findings will also provide a source of reference for other academicians

The hypothesis of the study is;

Hypothesis: Global terrorism adversely affects Egypt and Tunisia and preferred travel destinations 

There have been various publications written detailing the effects terrorism has on tourism. One of the reasons for this can be partially due to the increase in terrorism over the past 2 decades. While it is true that tourism plays a major role in the overall development of many countries, it is very volatile in nature and highly susceptible influence from external environments.

Thompson, (2011), wrote a journal article showing various comparisons on how terrorism affects the tourism industry in countries that are developing and those that are already developed. After an analyzing a cross-sectional data set of up to 60 countries, he concluded that terrorism’s effect on tourism in developing countries is way more severe as compared to developed countries. He further suggested that, developing countries should put in place measures to prevent terrorism in order to curb the damaging effects on tourism as an industry.

According to (Jost, 2017) the global economic impact brought about by terrorism reached a figure of US$89.6 billion in 2015, this was a decrease of 15 per cent as compared to2014.it was also noted that Tourism’s contribution to GDP was twice as large in those countries with no terrorist attacks as compared to countries with attacks. Tourism and terrorism are like oil and water. They are two contrasting things with regards to how they affect the economy of countries. Whereas tourism is an important sector aimed at stimulating and driving a country’s’ economy forward, terrorism has a complete opposing effect due to it adverse nature to the economy.

2016 Global terrorism index

country	rank	score
1	Iraq	9.96
2	Afghanistan	9.444
3	Nigeria	9.314
4	Pakistan	8.613
5	Syria	8.587
6	Yemen	8.076
7	Somalia	7.548
8	India	7.484
9	Egypt	7.328
10	Libya	7.283

(Jost, 2017)

Saul, (2012) describes terrorism as the use of violence, and intimidation, unlawfully particularly against civilians, in the pursuit of personal, political or religious ideologies.

Objective

Antwi-Boateng, (2017) notes that despite a number of African residents living in peaceful coexistence, radically charged Islamic ideology that propels terrorism is on the rise. The reason being factors that can be classified into push and pull forces. He states that the push forces are those which attract people to embrace the beliefs of violent jihad. These include: local backlash against perceived oppressive political systems; Americanization/globalization; high rate of unemployment; corruption, porous borders; lack of basic human rights, just to mention a few. The pull factors he indicated are the advantages terrorist movements have which pull people to their cause. These include: radical Islamic ideologies; media propaganda e.t.c.

There are several counterterrorism measures that have been put in place to try to mitigate the menace of global terrorism. Various nations have tried to formulate legislation which is aimed at countering terrorism (Eijkman, 2012). Despite all the efforts put in place, global terrorism has kept on evolving and has become more complex that it previously was.

One of the elements which have fostered the rise in global terrorism is advancement in technology.  With the rapid advancements in technology, the whole dynamics of terrorism has changed. Reports indicate that organized terror groups have started using various consumer technology products more so social media to communicate mobilize and also to spread propaganda (Voica, 2012). 

One of the main agenda of terrorist is to destabilize a country’s economy by targeting its major revenue generating sectors. This is the case as experienced in Egypt and Tunisia. There are several ways how terrorism can affect tourism and how tourists make their choice for a particular travel destination.

How tourists view risks play a major role in their decision to visit a particular travel destination over another (Clayton and Boxill, 2012). We have always seen travel advisories being issued on those countries being deemed unsafe. Travel advisories are actually warnings issued to tourists by their respective country from visiting a destination deemed unsafe.

In the event that a tourist visits a country in spite of an existing travel advisory against them doing so; they may be inclined to stay in a confined location thus affecting their freedom to explore; a major component in tourism, and ultimately their satisfaction of the whole tourism experience. There is also the aspect of having a negative attitude towards a location deemed to be terror prone.

Terrorism related activities have also played a very big role in defacing great tourist spots; especially those with cultural significance. Egypt has been a victim to this. Recently Egypt has faced quite a number of attacks in some of their known tourism spots for example the Karnak Temple, a known tourist site. By doing so, the tourism appeal that once was will be lost affecting the number of tourist inflow in that area. Not only that, but such attacks set precedence of fear to visit popular tourist sites.

Literature Review

In recent days, the top leadership in Egypt has presented themselves as a strategic partner to the western world; however they have been accused of not putting enough effort. The Egyptian government has been seen to spend more on its military apparatus than essential security organs responsible for countering terrorism.  This is one of the reasons why the western nations are finding the partnership with Egypt strenuous and non-committed to fighting terrorism

With regards to radicalization, both Tunisia and Egypt has had challenges of developing a comprehensive systematic approach to dealing with this issue. Egypt has also tried to quash but so far, very little has been seen to indicate a substantial progress amidst an increasing number of attacks   

Despite all the challenges the two countries are facing in tackling the challenge of terrorism, there have been various efforts to counter the vice. Taking Egypt for example, the Egyptian army has deployed machinery in the Sinai region for comprehensive counter terrorism operations in what has been dubbed operation Sinai. According to the Egyptian army, the operation is meant to flash out terrorist in their perceived strongholds across Egypt. This operation has however faced criticism from various quarters citing that it is short term and may not achieve much in providing a permanent solution to the issue of terrorism. The country has also tried to put measures to tighten their border security which was initially a pathway foreign terrorist used to cross into Egypt.  Tunisia on the other hand has been working closely with European Union in countering terrorism. The European Union has provided tactical support to Tunisia through training and equipment for fighting terrorism. However, its police reforms have not been as first as most would have wanted. Through other nongovernmental partners, Tunisia has tried to combat radicalism by communicating a counter narrative in different public forums

Recently there have been several reviews on how media shapes the image of travel destinations. There has been major criticism coming from different quarters especially on how media reports terror related events.  Some governments have gone on the offensive citing that the way the media portrays them has a devastating effect on their image as a preferred tourist destination (Ayalon, Popovich and Yarchi, 2014).

Media plays a major role in either promoting terrorism or countering terrorism. The main purpose of terrorism is to intimidate, to spread propaganda and to incite fear. The best way of doing so is by using media channels (Amble, 2012). By airing the terrorists’ narrative, their “accomplishments” especially by the mainstream media, most would argue that the terrorists have won. The opposite is also true; when media channels are used for proactive, anti terror campaigns, a positive change in the mindset of individuals is normally experienced. It is a common misconception that terrorism is always linked to Islam as a religion, and not specifically to radicals who hide behind religion. Egypt and Tunisia having a substantial number of their population being Muslims may experience a negative effect on their tourism sector due to this perception. It is the work of the media to work hard enough to air the counter narrative.  The fight to reduce radicalization should also be spearheaded by the media (Eijkman, 2012). 

This chapter provides the methodology used in the study. The research design, target population, sampling technique, data collection techniques and how data analysis was conducted are also described in this chapter.

According to Kothari, (2011), a research design is the actual arrangement of conditions necessary for data collection and analysis to take place in a way that seeks to combine relevance to the research purpose. This research will employ descriptive research design.

Descriptive research design is actually concerned with describing or portraying the characteristics of an individual, or a group, Descriptive research is designed to depict the respondents in a precise manner (Bryman & Bell, 2015). The study used case study approach which is a form of descriptive research design

The study will use both primary and secondary data sources in gathering data for analysis. The primary data will be gathered using questionnaires (Appendix I). According to Bernard, (2013) questionnaires are considered good tools to collect quantitative data because they are not expensive to produce, they do not require as much effort from the questioner as compared to other forms of data collection, and often have simple, standardized answers which make them easier for data collection .Questionnaires also guarantee some sense of confidentiality as respondents act without any fear. They also have simple and standard answers which eases compilation of data. (Saunders 2012). Also considers a questionnaire as also being preferred because it is simple to administer and quite convenient for collecting data within a short time. Secondary data was collected primarily from books and journals.

The research will employ quantitative method of data analysis. Descriptive statistics will be used to analyze the data. The data collected from respondents will be analyzed and their frequency and percentages recorded and presented using various tools such as pie charts among other media for easy understanding and interpretation. Descriptive statistics shows the characteristics of a data array and enables a researcher to use statistics to meaningfully describe the event under investigation (Aldous, 2016) 

This report will highlight how the proposed research investigation was undertaken in accordance with the agreed specification and procedures. The report will also show an analysis and presentation of data collected from the study.

According to Saunders et al. (2012), validity can be described as the extent to which an instrument measures that which it is required to measure. Reliability of a research instrument on the other hand is the extent to which the instrument on repeated trials yields the same results. Validity is the accuracy and meaningfulness of inferences, based on the research results. (Kothari, 2011) states that validity is the degree to which disparities found with a measuring instrument reflects the true differences among those being actually tested.

Content validity is concerned with sample population representativeness. To make sure the standards of reliability and validity were adhered to, questionnaires were pre-tested on two respondents to ascertain whether the questions met the required standards, whether they were relevant and that whether the respondents were able to tackle the questions presented to them, however; the response gathered during the pre-testing phase was not used as part of the final study. From the pre-testing, there was then adjustment of the various research questions which needed adjustment before the final distribution of the questionnaire. The researcher also sought guidance from his supervisor when developing the research instrument to ensure it was reliable. Secondary data was cross checked thoroughly to ascertain the relevance and consistency which in turn ensured their reliability,

The nature of information given by the respondents at the time of research might have been considered sensitive and confidential. This might have proved to be a major limitation since many respondents would have decided to withhold information due to high level of suspicion and lack of trust. There was also a possibility by the respondents to think that the study was aimed at using the findings against them. To overcome this challenge, the researcher presented a letter of introduction from the institution giving them assurance that the study conducted was solely for academic purposes and not meant to be used for malicious purposes.

The first question the researcher asked was whether the respondents knew of any terrorist threats issued in the last one year, and from the respondents questioned, 70% responded that indeed they have actually heard of terror threats issued while the remaining 30% responded that they have not yet heard of such threats. 

The researcher also asked whether the respondents have heard of any imminent terror related activities in the region, and 90% of the respondents said they haven’t, while the remaining 10% reported that they have heard. 

The researcher went further and asked if the respondents have noticed an increase in tourist complaints in the media or personally and the responses are as shown in the pie chart below 

1 % of the respondents actually strongly agreed, 4% agreed while the remaining 95% disagreed. The remaining choices had no representation.

The researcher also asked if terrorism related activities have an impact on the cost of doing business. From the findings collected, all the respondents were either agreeing strongly or just agreeing with the notion that, indeed there is a substantial increase in the cost of doing business due to terror related activities

The researcher wanted to also find out whether terrorism has changed how the respondents felt about tourism and according to the responses collected, 68% said it did while 32 % said it didn’t affect how they felt about tourism

The researcher also asked the respondents to rate the efforts put by different stakeholders in preventing terrorist activities from happening in the future and the response given is as indicated in the pie chart below 

From the responses collected 58 % said the efforts were satisfactory, 35% said they were poor while the remaining 7% said they were very poor

The researcher finally asked whether the travel advisories issued greatly reduce tourist activities. From the results collected, it was noted that all respondents were in agreement that indeed travel advisories had an adverse effect on tourism.

Conclusion

This report has clearly shown the analyzed data collected from the study as per the questionnaire distributed. The researcher also went further to describe the validity and reliability of the research instrument and also tackled the ethical considerations pertaining to the study.

This chapter aims at evaluating the findings of the study, giving recommendations and suggestion for further studies.

This research opted to use formative evaluation. (McMillan, 2013) states that formative research is a kind of developmental research or action research intended to improve design theory for designing instructional practices or processes. The choice of formative evaluations was due to the various advantages it carries when used in this kind of research. Formative evaluation allows the researcher to gain new knowledge on the subject matter; it also allows the researcher to plan for the future due to the fluidity which allows the author adjusts the research in the course of progress (Patton, 2015).

From the research it was identified that the respondents had Knowledge of terror threats. The respondents also stated that they were not aware of any imminent terror related activities. It was also identified that terrorism changed how the respondents felt about tourism. The respondents agreed that indeed travel advisories had an adverse effect on tourism. The respondents also stated that they noticed an increase in tourist complaints. Finally the efforts done by stakeholders were considered satisfactory by a majority of the respondents

Conclusion

From research, it can be concluded that tourism suffers negatively when there is an imminent threat of a terrorist attack. In the instance of an actual attack, tourism suffers even further the aspect of safety is an important determinant in the choice of a travel destination by tourist and tourism companies alike.

In as much as tourism marketing firms are continuing their intense marketing to try and revive an already hurt market, it is important for the governments of both Egypt and Tunisia to put in place measures that will bring back the confidence of the tourist more so in terms of safety.

Media also has a major role to play in influencing the tourism industry. It is important for media companies to thoroughly scrutinize their information sources in order to ensure they don’t fall prey to the propaganda mechanism of terrorist which may not only affect tourism, but  a country’s whole economy due to the input of tourism in the economy.

The research has also indicated the importance of all stakeholders to work in unison in combating the vice of terrorism. It is commendable that there has been call for a formation of a global counterterrorism agency that is aimed at combating the vice (Stoffer, 2013) terrorism is dynamic and ever evolving; leaving the fight to only a targeted group will be a difficult task but when all stakeholders join hand in combating the vice, will true progress be seen.

From the findings of the study, the researcher arrived at the following recommendations which, if implemented effectively; will drastically help in improving the tourism sector of both Egypt and Tunisia in countering terrorism.

The study recommends policy reformulation aimed at both domestic and foreign tourists? in order to discourage accommodating terrorist or radical groups in their premises. New policies should also be put in place to deter terrorism activities. These policies should also be aimed at improving the social fabric in both countries to foster more inclusivity and national cohesion.

The study also recommends an additional budget allocation be considered to aid the relevant state agencies combat this vice. Through additional allocation of resources, counter terrorism state agencies will be better equipped at dealing with terrorism in a more proactive manner.  

It is a recommendation for the relevant policy makers to consider new approaches on how to combat terrorism. This is due to the fact that terrorism has evolved substantially, where old approaches may not be able to work.

The researcher also recommends that security apparatus carry out due diligence when; screening individuals, gathering intelligence and also dealing with potential suspects. This will aid them in proactively mitigating risk of a terrorist attack

The approach on how to tackle radicalization should also be reviewed to ensure that those who are on the verge of joining terror groups are dissuaded to do so. This will also strangle the terrorist groups from accessing obtaining potential areas for recruiting new members.

While this study aimed at capturing most of the relationships between terrorism and tourism, the research only captured the data for two countries namely Egypt and Tunisia. This data may not be reflective of the true picture in other parts of the world. Both counties also reside in areas perceived to be highly active in terrorist related activities. Therefore, further research need s to be capture in other areas facing similar challenges to get an all round data on the relationship between terrorism and tourism.

THE EFFECT OF GLOBAL TERRORISM ON TRAVEL DESTINATIONS: A CASE OF EGYPT AND TUNISIA World Tourism Market, Travel Tech show, London Excel, November 2018.
Tourism is a major contributor to economic growth it however faces a myriad of challenges with terrorism being at the top of the list The purpose of this study is to find out how global terrorism affects Egypt and Tunisia as preferred travel destinations. Research tool: questionnaire Data analysis: quantitative Research design: descriptive	· Respondents had Knowledge of terror threats · The respondents didn’t know of any imminent terror related activities · terrorism changed how the respondents felt about tourism · Respondents agreed that indeed travel advisories had an adverse effect on tourism. · the respondents noticed an increase in tourist complaints · efforts done by stakeholders were satisfactory	From research, it can be concluded that tourism suffers negatively when there is imminent threat of a terrorist attack · The study recommends policy reformulation · Addition of resource allocation · Review of policies · Formulation of method to tackle radicalization

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