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TERRORISM: CHALLENGE FOR TOURISM
Imtiaz Muqbil, Executive Editor - 24 Jan 2002
Jump to Part 2

TRAVEL IMPACT NEWSWIRE -- New Edition 5 (2002) -- Friday, 25 January 2002

Distinction in Travel Journalism

From Imtiaz Muqbil, Executive Editor, in Bangkok

In this dispatch:

1. International Terrorism: Implications and Challenge for Global Tourism (PART ONE OF TWO) 2,749 words: This remarkably insightful document by Louis D'Amore, Director of the International Institute of Peace Through Tourism, was first published in 1986. That's right, 1986, when he was president of L.J. D'Amore and Associates, a Montreal-based consulting firm. Nearly every word is still valid today. A deep sense of d?j? vu runs through the paper, which will go a long way towards making people t h ink twice or perhaps thrice about how terrorism is being fought today, and how it needs to be addressed in future. In the absence of such re-thinking, tourism will remain a victim of terrorism. Yet, if tourism is to be a beneficiary of peace, it needs to draw upon these historical perspectives in becoming part of the search for alternative and sustainable solutions, not just the same failed versions of the past.

-0-

Please forward this dispatch to friends and colleagues who might find it useful and relevant. New subscribers welcome - please drop me an email with a company name and title. Readers with a changed email address who wish to continue receiving Newswire, please let me know the new address. To unsubscribe, please reply with the word 'Unsubscribe' in the Subject field. Unauthorised lifting of material and mass distribution over other media is STRICTLY PROHIBITED under international copyright regul a tions.

-0-

1. International Terrorism: Implications and Challenge for Global Tourism

By Louise D'Amore and Teresa Anuza, then a senior researcher at L.J. D'Amore and Associates.

Published in Fall 1986, Business Quarterly, School of Business Administration, University of Western Ontario, Canada. Please keep the year of publication in mind when reading references below to 'last year', 'last decade', etc.

The Growing Threat of Terrorism

International terrorism is having a more profound impact on travel than any other factor since the energy crises of the 1970s. Although terrorism is an age-old political weapon, available statistics date back only to the late 1960s with the slaying of a U.S. ambassador in 1968. In 1970, Palestinian commandos blew up three planes in Jordan. Middle East tensions increased further along with worldwide media coverage when terrorists attacked members of the Israeli team at the 1972 Munich Olympic G a mes.

There has been a rapid acceleration of terrorist activity since the early 1970s. A separate analysis by the Rand Corporation indicates that international terrorism is increasing at a rate of 12-15% a year. A decade ago, the world experienced an average of 10 incidents of terrorist violence per week - assassinations, bombings, air hijackings, maimings, or attacks on facilities. The average now is nearly 10 a day. According to Risks International, terrorists struck 22,171 times from 1970 to 1985 , killing 40,394 persons and wounding 24,588. Americans or their property were targeted in 14% of terrorist incidents.

The 1980s began with members of the U.S. Embassy being held hostage in Tehran. U.S. interests as a target of terrorist activity have since accelerated. (A listing of the more significant terrorism events affecting the U.S. and Western nations and leading up to the April 11 raid on Libya by the U.S. was provided in a separate chart accompanying the paper).

Following the U.S. raid on Libya, terrorist activity multiplied throughout Europe and the Middle East in retaliation. Four hostages were killed and the British ambassador's residence shelled in Beirut; bombs exploded in U.S. and British company offices in Beirut, London, and Lyons, France. A British businessman working for a U.S. company was shot in Lyons; a British tourist was shot in Jerusalem; and bombs were discovered by the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City and aboard an El Al plane at London's Heathrow Airport, averting further major disasters.

It is instructive to note the lull in both terrorist activity, and media attention to international terrorism in the weeks following April 26th - the date of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which overnight shifted world attention from international terrorism to the dangers of nuclear reactors.

A review of expert opinion on terrorism suggests that:

• Terrorist activities are increasingly linked. Principle terrorist groups are connected through mutual cooperation, and the P.L.O. appears to be a pivotal link.

• Most Middle East observers describe the "new terrorism" as a general declaration of war by Islamic fundamentalists in Libya, Syria, and Iran against what they describe as the decadence and immorality of the West.

• Terrorists carrying out these operations depend on international patrons in Moscow, Havana, Sofia, East Berlin, Tehran, and other capitals hostile to the West. These "terrorist states" provide essential weapons, supplies, financing, coordination, and training to sustain terrorism.

• Terrorism is, unfortunately, a cost-effective means of warfare.

• Terrorism has achieved a progressively elevated moral status to the point where terrorists are identified as freedom fighters.

• The evidence suggests that we can expect more frequent and bolder action in the future.

Table B below provides a profile of the "typical terrorist" and "typical victims", considered to be the primary targets of terrorism. The profile of typical victims, however, has shifted recently to include innocent travellers as government and corporate installations increase security.

TABLE B

TYPICAL TERRORIST AND VICTIM

TYPICAL TERRORIST

Age: 20 to 23.

Sex : Male (but the number of women terrorists is rising sharply)

Marital status: Single or separated.

Social origin: MiddIe or upper-class urban family.

Place recruited: University.

Ideology: Marxist.

Education: 2.5 years of college.

Profession: Lawyer, government worker, student, nurse or sociologist.

TYPICAL VICTIMS

Assassinations: Police officers, government officials, military personnel, diplomats, business executives.

Bombings: Businesses, banks, utilities, government offices, military facilities.

Kidnappings: Business executives, government officials.

Source: Risks international Inc. as reported in U.S. News and World Report

The Impact of Terrorism on Travel

Prior to June of last year, the impact of a terrorist act on travel tended to be felt for a period of a few months in the geographic region or nation in which the event took place and would then diminish. However, beginning in June of last year, terrorism began to have a more lasting impact and a much wider geographic influence. In a nine-day period that month, the world witnessed the crash of an Air India jumbo jet, in which 329 people were killed; believed to be caused by a bomb; the hijacki n g of a TWA flight from Athens; an explosion in baggage taken from a CP Air Boeing 747 in Tokyo; a bombing at the Frankfurt airport; and the hijacking of a Norwegian airliner.

With the rash of terrorist incidents in 1985, travel agencies reported an increase in terrorism-related inquiries and purchases of travel insurance. Overall traveller concern seemed to be confined to areas associated with terrorism rather than travel per se. Moreover, a significant portion of individuals were still willing to take the perceived risk because of the bargains available for overseas vacations.

Experienced pleasure and business travellers were taking terrorism in their stride. However, first-time travellers with greater apprehension of foreign travel began to avoid trips to Europe following the June, 1985 barrage of terrorist activity.

The continuance of terrorist activity in the second half of 1985, culminating with the December 27 attacks on the Rome and Vienna airports in which 20 were killed and 100 injured, began to affect both seasoned vacation travellers and business travellers. Whereas 19% of U.S. travellers with reservations to Europe cancelled their plans following the events of June, 1985, some 35% of Americans cancelled their reservations after the December airport attacks. By April of 1986, a Gallup Poll conduct e d for Newsweek indicated that 79% of Americans "if they had the opportunity to travel overseas this summer" would refuse it because of the threat of terrorism.

Prior to the December, 1985 airport attacks in Rome and Vienna, North American tourists were shifting their plans and reservations from Mediterranean destinations to the U.K., Northern Europe, and Scandinavia. Following the December airport attacks, North American travellers began to avoid Europe all together. The nuclear incident at Chernobyl on April 27 sealed Europe's fate in the mind of the American tourist as the Scandinavian countries and Northeast Europe were no longer considered attrac t ive alternatives to Southern Europe.

A record number of 6.4 million Americans travelled to Europe in 1985. European tourist authorities were optimistically targetting for 7 million American visitors in 1986. In stark contrast to these levels, a study recently completed by L.J. D'Amore and Associates is forecasting that U.S. travel to Europe will be down by approximately 30% in 1986.

The countries around the Mediterranean will suffer the most significant losses, with bookings down by as much as 50% in some cases. Egypt, troubled by internal as well as external incidents, could lose 65% of their expected American visitors.

Britain may regain some of its predicted losses as many Americans appreciate the support they received during the attack on Libya. The British travel industry has also launched additional promotions which may recapture some of their market.

Canada and the Caribbean will realize the most significant gains in tourism from the U.S. as a result of the decline in travel to Europe. Also benefitting to a lesser extent will be Pacific/Far East destinations, Central and South America, Caribbean cruises and cruises along the West Coast of Canada to Alaska.

While U.S. travel agencies and airlines were experiencing cancellations and changes since January, the travel industry in Canada had shown little impact until the U.S. raid on Libya. Afterwards Canadians showed slightly more wariness in planning overseas vacations. L.J. D'Amore and Associates is forecasting a 15-20% drop in Canadians travelling to Europe in 1986. This following a record year in 1985 of 1.2 million Canadians going to Europe. The sharp drop in value of the Canadian dollar agains t European currencies is also contributing to the decline as is the strong attraction of Expo '86 in Vancouver.

Canadians will continue to travel overseas even if some decide to bypass Europe and the Middle East. The number of Canadians visiting other countries has been setting records for the past 19 months. For each of these months, more Canadians went abroad than in the same month a year earlier.

MARKET RE-POSITIONING

The cumulative effects of terrorist incidents combined with steady media attention has resulted in massive realignments of travel flows for the summer of 1986. No sector of the travel industry remained unaffected. Tourist boards, airlines, hotels, and tour and travel agents were all forced into responding to the situation.

Travel agencies and tour operators were among the first groups to feel the impact of terrorism on their business. One small group of agencies responded by announcing a European boycott since these countries did not appear to be doing enough to combat terrorism. In contrast, other agencies promoted special reductions in air fares and tours to Greece, Spain, Great Britain, and other European destinations.

The threat of terrorism has been the major concern of the airline industry, affecting decisions on everything from fleet deployment to sales and promotion activities. TWA has sharply reduced its service to the Mediterranean area and has inaugurated flights to Alaska and Hawaii as of June 1. Similarly, Pan American Airlines has shifted a significant proportion of its capacity from European destinations to the U.S. In addition to re-positioning of aircrafts, the airline industry responded with a g gressive promotional campaigns.

• British Airways' $6 million promotion campaign entitled "Go for it, America" presented close to 5,800 Americans in 15 cities with free flights to London. Some winners were also selected to meet with Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The massive promotional campaign also included prizes of a Rolls Royce and a London townhouse.

• American Airlines launched a two-for-one ticket offer, allowing passengers who travel round trip to Europe another ticket valid anywhere on the carrier's system.

• Continental Airlines announced it would give passengers on its Houston-London flights a free round-trip companion ticket to any of its mainland U.S. and Mexico or Canadian destinations.

• Pan American promoted two-for-one ticket offers and free car rentals. Its major emphasis however has been to call attention to its new "Alert" system security measures.

Canadian travellers were also enticed by airlines to visit Europe this summer. Air Canada, Wardair, and British Airways reduced round-trip fares to London to $399 for late May-early June travel. For British Airways this was the lowest fare since 1979 when travellers had to book and pay 90 days in advance rather than the present seven days.

European hotels responded with reductions in room rates of 25 to 50%. Some of the major international chains shifted promotion from Europe to Pacific and Caribbean destinations.

Terrorism in the Middle East and Europe has also resulted in a major repositioning of cruise ships. Bookings on Mediterranean cruises have dropped substantially, requiring major cruise lines in that area to re-position their ships.

Princess Cruises cancelled all of their Mediterranean sailings of the Pacific Princess for 1986. It has been repositioned to focus heavily on Expo '86, providing passengers with complimentary admission tickets and spending two full days in Vancouver and 18 hours in Victoria in its sailings from Seattle along the West Coast of British Columbia to Alaska. Other cruise lines have repositioned ships from the Mediterranean to the Caribbean, South America, the Pacific, Northern Europe and both coast s of Canada. Demand for Eastern Canada/New England cruises has doubled since 1984. Cruise capacity in Western Canada and Alaska has increased by 40%.

By June, 1986, indications were that the tourist slide had slowed, due in part to airline and other European travel industry promotions and the relative absence of high profile terrorist activity directed at travellers since the U.S. raid on Libya.

For example, prior to British Airways' American promotion, bookings to London from the U.S. were 30% below normal; this has been cut to 15% below normal. The British Tourist Authority is now predicting a 15% decrease in visitors for the year.

Business Travel - "We Have To Be Careful But We Have To Go On."

Terrorism is beginning to affect the way North American companies do business, including the extent of business travel and how it is conducted. In 1985, 35% of terrorist incidents in the world were aimed at business, compared with 25% in 1984. And of the victims of terrorism, about 40% were Americans.

The issue of security has become so critical among some North American corporations that the landing of a corporate account may depend on the sophistication of a travel agency's proposed security program. Other companies, who do not want to draw attention to themselves, will move a travel department in-house to increase their control. While many companies do not yet have a clearly defined travel policy with respect to terrorism, it may be only a matter of time before such plans are implemented on a wide scale.

Executives of most major North American corporations insist that their business dealings with Europe will not slow down, particularly now that the U.S. and Canadian exchange rates are beginning to favor U.S. exports. What is changing is the extent of security precautions being taken by North American companies and a greater reliance on the telephone and cable rather than travel. Also, more European executives will be travelling to North America to conduct business, rather than vice versa.

Bank Settlement Plan figures report that Europe-bound business traffic from Canada was in decline with travel trade reporting 15% fewer ticket sales in March, bringing the first quarter drop to 7%.

Following the U.S. April raid on Libya several American companies, including major retail chains, cancelled all travel by buyers and executives to Europe. Some major companies such as Johnson & Johnson have issued bulletins asking their employees to limit travel to only the most important business. Others rely on the common sense and experience of their employees to keep risks at a minimum while travelling.

Various companies including AT & T have recently prepared booklets on how to cope with the threat of terrorism while travelling. A U.S. government brochure, originally designed for the use of government personnel but now about to be distributed to travel agents, suggests staying away from spots overseas where Americans are known to congregate.

Some executives have taken to using pseudonyms when making overseas hotel bookings. And, once checked in, they flag their own cab rather than ask the desk clerk to call one for them.

Some business travellers are avoiding U.S. carriers. Lufthansa and Swiss Air are preferred because they have their own security checks in addition to those of the airports. Air Canada also appears to be benefitting from this switch over by U.S. business travellers. Another favored precautionary measure is to fly to smaller gateway cities and to then travel by car or train to major capitals such as Rome or Paris.

Canadian companies recommend that their travellers abroad attempt to demonstrate their Canadian identity by measures such as wearing a Canadian flag lapel pin. One engineering consulting firm advised employees to dress like tourists by wearing slacks or blue jeans and a sport shirt rather than a business suit. The same company recommends avoiding American airlines and, once in Europe, to take national carriers to the Middle East and Africa. Normally terrorists stay away from Third World carrie r s because they do not want to antagonize their supporters in the Third World.

Alcan Aluminium Ltd., Montreal, maintains a worldwide network of security people who keep an eye on potential trouble. Alcan briefs its people on security and local customs before they leave and updates its security measures annually.

Insurance has become a problem for the business traveller who may be exposed to terrorist acts, especially for travel to such areas as the Middle East and Latin America. Only a handful of underwriters, including Lloyd's of London, offer any coverage at all, provided the employer will accept deductibles of up to $100,000.

The concern for security clearly extends to the European facilities of North American companies as well as travel to and from North America. Stepped up security precautions include concrete and steel road barriers, security fences, shatter-proof windows, guard forces, and employee identification systems. In Brussels, at ITT Corporation's towering headquarters building, executives practice evacuating the building in two minutes. Security consultants also report a sharp increase in requests from U.S. companies for bodyguards.

END OF PART ONE

Subject: TERRORISM: CHALLENGE FOR TOURISM (Part 2)
Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2002 23:47:13 -0700 (MST)
From: Travel Impact Newswire <imtiaz@travel-impact-newswire.com>
To: Travel Impact Newswire <imtiaz@loxinfo.co.th>
786/110

TRAVEL IMPACT NEWSWIRE -- New Edition 5 (2002) -- Friday, 25 January 2002

Distinction in Travel Journalism

From Imtiaz Muqbil, Executive Editor, in Bangkok

In this dispatch:

1. International Terrorism: Implications and Challenge for Global Tourism (PART TWO OF TWO) 3,380 words: This remarkably insightful document by Louis D'Amore, Director of the International Institute of Peace Through Tourism, was first published in 1986. That's right, 1986, when he was president of L.J. D'Amore and Associates, a Montreal-based consulting firm. Nearly every word is still valid today. A deep sense of d?j? vu runs through the paper, which will go a long way towards making people think twice or perhaps thrice about how terrorism is being fought today, and how it needs to be addressed in future. In the absence of such re-thinking, tourism will remain a victim of terrorism. Yet, if tourism is to be a beneficiary of peace, it needs to draw upon these historical perspectives in becoming part of the search for alternative and sustainable solutions, not just the same failed versions of the past.

-0-

Please forward this dispatch to friends and colleagues who might find it useful and relevant. New subscribers welcome - please drop me an email with a company name and title. Readers with a changed email address who wish to continue receiving Newswire, please let me know the new address. To unsubscribe, please reply with the word 'Unsubscribe' in the Subject field. Unauthorised lifting of material and mass distribution over other media is STRICTLY PROHIBITED under international copyright regulations.

-0-

1. International Terrorism: Implications and Challenge for Global Tourism

By Louise D'Amore and Teresa Anuza, then a senior researcher at L.J. D'Amore and Associates.

Published in Fall 1986, Business Quarterly, School of Business Administration, University of Western Ontario, Canada. Please keep the year of publication in mind when reading references below to 'last year', 'last decade', etc.

PART TWO OF TWO

Suggested Precautions For The Business Traveller

• Take company identification oft bags when travelling

• Stay in major hotels and avoid displays of wealth.

• Do not carry impressive membership cards in your wallet. Leave them in your suitcase.

• Avoid carrying expensive attache cases.

• Avoid parking in clearly labeled executive parking places.

• Refuse interviews by local media to keep a low profile.

• Vary daily routine on extended business trips.

• Fly economy. First class is often the section where hijackers establish their temporary headquarters.

• Avoid aisle seats. They are within easy reach of a fist or a gun butt.

• Keep a low profile. Expensive suits may attract the wrong kind of attention. And avoid advertising your North American roots.

• In addition, many Americans are now avoiding executive-class airport lounges and other highly visible perks of business travel.

Use of Corporate Aircraft

North American corporate flight departments are tightening security and further reducing already low profiles to minimize exposure to terrorist actions, but they are not cancelling trips or experiencing a slowdown in overseas travel demand. Volume of foreign flights by U.S. corporate aircraft has remained steady over the past six months and may have increased, according to the National Business Aircraft Association.

Improved security is one of the reasons companies buy business aircraft, along with the need for executive mobility, speed, and direct access to remote areas. Business aircraft are considered a safer way to travel than commercial airlines because they are unscheduled and usually operate randomly and anonymously, bearing only national registration numbers. Executive passengers can be met and can deplane at limited-access business aviation terminals normally located at smaller, less busy airports.

Corporations are making several minor changes, including the removal of all identifying symbols and logos from the aircraft, no matter how small or obscure, even if unrelated to the corporate logo. The relocation of aircraft registration numbers from outboard engine sides to less obvious areas of the aircraft is also being investigated.

Meetings and Incentive Travel

The meetings and incentive market appears to be the business segment which has been particularly hard hit by terrorism because, like the vacation sector, the M & I market is a business form of discretionary travel. As well, choice of destination, like pleasure travel, is a factor over which meeting planners have control.

Several major corporations have cancelled sales meetings in Europe, shifting instead to alternative sites such as Hawaii, the Far East, and Canada. Canadian organizers at convention centres across the country have already been receiving significantly more requests for information than usual. The Mariott Corporation reports losing 30% of its European incentive bookings from the United States, with a near total loss of business in Athens, Cairo, and Vienna. In London, the Hyde Park Intercontinental has lost 10,000 room nights; and Rank Hotels, 2,500 room nights.

The bulk of these cancellations are from the incentive and small meetings market. In many cases, the companies involved are prepared to keep the incentive trip, but the participants are refusing to attend. Companies cancelling meetings and/or incentive trips include corporate giants such as IBM, Ford Motor Co., North Atlantic Life Insurance Co., Merrill Lynch, and the U.S, Division of Nissan.

The Travel Industry Response to Increased Security Requirements

Europe and the Mediterranean

Key airports in Europe and around the Mediterranean have made vast improvements in security which have been confirmed with periodic inspections by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and international aviation groups. At Fiumicino Airport in Rome, police teams patrol the terminal entrance; the Cairo airport has begun charging a nominal fee for access to the airport grounds in order to minimize the mass of well-wishers seeing off or welcoming passengers; and in Israel, anyone seeking to enter the Tel Aviv airport is stopped at a checkpoint on the access road and is scrutinized before being permitted to continue to the terminal. Airports are also considering the installation of video cameras, common check-in counters for all carriers, bullet-proof screens at check-in counters, and extra passport control desks.

Enhanced security generally falls into several key categories which include:

• Airport and airline officials now carefully match luggage to passengers to make certain that a bomb is not slipped aboard in an orphan suitcase.

• Many carriers now start checking up on passengers with reservations well before the flight. Those who fit a terrorist profile are subject to special scrutiny.

• All major airports now employ duplicate checks of baggage and travel papers to assure that if a terrorist manages to evade one security search there will still be others. Many airlines, moreover, have insisted on augmenting the airport's security measures with their own.

• Controls have been tightened over workers with access to aircraft and airport security zones.

• Workers commonly carry identification badges and may only enter planes under the direct supervision of superiors, to avoid the planting of explosives or weapons aboard. The backgrounds and even political leanings of the workers are also frequently subjected to investigation.

In support of strengthened airport security measures, the European Parliament has approved a resolution, 107 to 1, calling for the European Economic Community to become more active in setting standards for airport security and providing financing for security improvements.

The non-binding resolution asks that the EEC give higher priority to airport security when selecting projects to be supported by existing funds. While it would be impossible for the community to impose a new set of airport security standards on the 12 EEC nations immediately the intent is that officials begin working towards a "gradual harmonization" of standards based on those set by the International Civil Aviation Organization and other aviation groups. The standards now are binding only for those nations that have endorsed them. The EEC action would make them binding on all members.

Concern remains primarily with suicide attacks, which would be almost impossible to stop, and the possibility of attacks on departing or approaching planes from portable missile launchers.

U.S. government and independent analysts indicate that Middle Eastern terrorist groups operating in Europe have access to surface-to-air missiles and may use them to shoot down commercial aircraft. The use of such weapons will become more likely, the analysts believe, if terrorist attacks with less sophisticated weapons are thwarted by improved security in Western Europe. Analysts suggest that such tactics may become part of deliberate terrorist campaigns against the tourism industries of European countries friendly to Israel, hostile to Moslem fundamentalism, or determined to prosecute and imprison terrorists.

The US

In the US, the Federal Aviation Administration has begun implementing new and tighter security measures at a wider group of US airports and with US airlines in Europe. Security measures have been escalated to the maximum alert stage following the US air raid on Libya. This involves passenger body searches, additional x-ray and hand examination of luggage, and holding cargo in certain cases for a minimum of 24 hours.

In contrast to many European airports, where police troops with sub-machine guns and sentry dogs serve as highly visible deterrents to terrorist attacks, the three airports of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey rely on an often invisible security shield, one of a host of generally unobtrusive measures that officials call more suited to conditions in the United States.

Beyond increased plainclothes police surveillance, recent measures include stepped-up police weaponry (kept, for the most part, discreetly out of sight), tamper-resistant employee identification cards, daily intelligence briefings, and an alertness campaign backed by an employee-incentive reward program. In addition, Kennedy Airport last fall put into service a new mobile x-ray van that can be dispatched quickly to the tarmac or other sites to examine suspicious packages.

Smaller commuter and general-aviation airports are also reassessing security, although passenger screening remains minimal. Westchester County Airport near White Plains, for example, has increased staff training for baggage inspection. At Teterboro Airport in Bergen County, N.J., which serves only private planes and therefore conducts no passenger checks, is nevertheless hiring a consultant to survey the airport perimeter to improve security there.

Canada

Because Canada has never considered itself a target for terrorists, security procedures until recently have not matched the stringent controls at many of the world's major airports. This changed overnight following the explosion of Air India flight 182 in July, 1985 and the explosion of a bomb from the luggage of CP Air flight 003 at Narita International Airport in Japan on the same day.

The Canadian Department of Transport, in cooperation with airlines and labor unions, has initiated a more stringent security program involving increased passenger and baggage searches, assignment of RCMP at security points, and the recent formation of a task force to report on security equipment standards.

Security advisors continue to believe that the key factor in a successful security program continues to be personnel, beginning with proper recruitment of capable personnel to handle passenger screening, training, recurrent training, and competent supervision.

Associations

Several key industry associations have also responded with both action and proposals.

• The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) unanimously passed a Canadian resolution calling for terrorist attacks on airports to be recognized as an international crime.

• The International Airline Pilots Associations has authorized boycotts of countries that promote terrorism or who fail to provide adequate security.

• A Travel Security Policy Council (TSPC) has been formed comprising government leaders and travel industry executives. They are supporting a number of activities including the compilation of statistics on economic losses from terrorism and an information clearing house.

• The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) has formed a task force to study the effects of terrorism on the tourism industry and to determine what realistic steps can be taken by ASTA to improve safety and alleviate public concern.

New Technology for Airport Security Checks

The bomb that exploded aboard a TWA flight to Athens on April 2, 1986 is believed to have contained half a kilogram of plastic explosive triggered by a sophisticated miniature timer. On April 17, a woman passed through both metal and x-ray detectors at London's Heathrow Airport with 4.5 Kg of plastic explosives concealed in her hand luggage. The bomb was discovered in a hand search before she boarded an El Al flight to Israel.

In addition to plastic explosives, security experts are concerned that an all-plastic gun could be on the market within the next few years. Now selling in the U.S. for $450 is an Austrian-made 9 mm automatic pistol, the Glock 17, which has a high proportion' of non-metallic parts and can be dismantled so that the metal parts are not identifiable as a pistol. Some sources say the Russian KGB already has a crude gun made almost completely of plastic.

A new generation of high technology detection devices is being developed specifically targeted to detect plastic explosives and plastic guns. These include:

• The "Model Z", an x-ray system which can highlight images of materials with low atomic weights such as narcotics, plastic weapons, and explosives.

• Electronic sensors that "sniff" luggage and search for concentrations of nitrogen, an element often found in explosives.

• A system developed by Westinghouse based on a process known as thermal-neutron activation. It bombards luggage with neutrons, causing chemical changes that enable detectors to identify objects.

• Chemiluminescent system developed by Thermedics, Woburn, Mass. The system inserts a gas into a package and gives off a fluorescent glow in the presence of nitrogen compounds, which presents a means to measure and identify explosives.

• An infrared system to detect plastic objects that may be either handguns or explosives.

Tracking dogs are currently in use at most major airports. However, a problem with all animals is that their senses are unreliable, particularly if exposed to odors that mask the subtle smell of explosives. A bomb tightly sealed in Saran Wrap and aluminum foil also evades a dog's smell, and a dog's ability to sniff out explosives diminishes quickly. After approximately one hour, its sense of smell is spent and confused by the myriad of smells on people and baggage.

Transport Canada has purchased and deployed a highly sophisticated Canadian bomb detector which is more effective than tracking dogs. The "explosives vapor detector", or bomb sniffer, is the result of a three-year research effort by the National Research Council and a Toronto company, Scintrex Ltd., and is currently in use at major Canadian airports.

Perhaps the most revolutionary approach is under development by two chemistry professors at the University of Toronto.

Although it may be five years before it is perfected, Ulrich Krull and Michael Thompson are building a sniffer that promises to be as small as a ballpoint pen and to cost as little as $375. It relies on artificial membranes that contain receptors tailored to latch on to the molecules of a specific gas. When a target molecule binds to a receptor, an electrical current flows through the membrane, triggering an alarm.

Winning the War Against Terrorism

Counter-terrorist experts suggest that Western society's most effective response to terrorism is swift and decisive military retaliation: "The primary task then, in fighting terrorism is to weaken and ultimately destroy the terrorists' ability to consistently launch attacks." - Benjamin Netanuyahu

One expert, Gayle Rivers, goes a step further arguing in favor of a concept of "prevention" whereby terrorists are dealt "anticipatory" retaliatory blows where possible, before they strike.

Counter-terrorist experts suggests that retaliation must be applied to states sponsoring terrorists in addition to the terrorists themselves. They argue further that lax security, or a refusal to maintain proper security safeguards in airports, should be considerered as a tacit form of collusion with terrorists.

Policies in support of a retaliatory strategy suggested by counter-terrorist experts include:

• political pressure ranging from international condemnation to cessation of diplomatic relations.

• economic pressures including trade boycotts, embargoes and a denial of access to both planes and ships.

• a well-coordinated and cooperative intelligence network among Western nations.

Paralleling the "active" components of a counter-terrorist strategy is the obvious "passive" requirement for stringent security measures at airports, embassies, corporate offices, etc.

Conclusion

It took the entire history of humankind up to the start of the 20th century to reach a population of 1.6 billion. We then doubled this to 3.0 billion by 1960 and will see a second doubling to 6.0 billion by the start of the 21st century. Ninety percent of the growth between now and the year 2000 will be in Third World nations.

The world is more crowded and less stable socially, economically, politically and ecologically. Serious stresses in each of these dimensions are clearly visible. Despite our unprecedented consumption of global resources in the past quarter century, nearly one-third of the world's population are living in absolute poverty; nearly one-half do not have access to basic health services; and more than half a billion are seriously undernourished. Last year alone, 3.5 million children died from preventable diseases. Complete immunization would cost a mere $5 per child.

These conditions create the fertile breeding grounds for terrorists. It is no surprise that most terrorists are recruited from refugee camps where young people have no home, no work and no hope. The number of such persons in the world is increasing daily. For many young persons in these circumstances, the most promising channel of improved social mobility is the local cell of a terrorist organization.

Within this global context, more than US$1 trillion was spent on weapons and warfare in 1985. To this amount we are now adding billions more in the "war on terrorism" and for "security" against terrorists. This is more than $200 for every man, woman and child in the world -- the per capita income of most nations. It is the aggregate GNP of some 130 nations.

One-tenth that amount could feed all the people of the world. Another one-tenth could educate all school aged children. One-tenth could provide new towns and communities with housing for the displaced persons of the world. Less than one-tenth would provide clean water, sanitation and basic health services to the one-third of the world's population who lack these services.

The philosophy and ethic of "industrial man" originating with Descartes, Bacon and other philosopher/scientists who ushered in the industrial era, was one of domination and control over nature. The environmental "alerts" of the late 1960s and current issues including acid rain and toxic waste, have caused a re-evaluation of our relationship with nature. We are now recognizing that sustainable development requires a custodial relationship with our environment and living in harmony with nature.

Similarly, international terrorism, Third World debt and nuclear arms proliferation are the "alert signals" of the 1980s which call for a re-conceptualization of man's relationship to man in the global village of an information age.

Long term global security in relationships with our neighbors in the global village will not come from a growing proliferation of weapons, wars, and swift retaliatory strikes. Former Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson warned us a quarter century ago that "no planet can survive half slave, half free; half engulfed in misery, half careening along toward the joys of an almost unlimited consumption . . . neither ecology nor our morality could survive such contrasts."

The countdown to the 21st century has begun. Less than 15 years remain before the dawning of a new millenium. A period in which the late Buckminster Fuller believed humankind would be taking its "final exam."

Humankind will pass its "final exam" when we recognize the need to live in harmony with our fellow human beings, as well as with nature - when we recognize that we are our brother's keeper. We will have passed our "final exam" when the one-half of the world's scientists who are currently conducting research into weaponry and destruction have shifted their focus to human and social development and a sustainable environment. We will have passed our final exam, when the U.S. and the Soviet Union join together in a program of demilitarization and the re-allocation of vital resources, with other nations, to achieve sustained global development for the benefit of all humankind.

Perhaps the most powerful and symbolic photographs ever taken were the first photographs of planet earth as the first astronauts began their probe into space. Edgar Mitchell described what he saw from space as "a beautiful, harmonious, peaceful looking planet, blue with white clouds, and one that gave you a deep sense. . . of home, of being, of identity".

The photographs brought back from space generated similar reactions of awe, connectedness and mutual dependency among people on earth; a heightened awareness of the relationship between humanity and the planet and the need to live in harmony with each other and the environment.

The tourism industry is well positioned to play a central role in achieving the global harmony we all seek. There is no better way to promote understanding and trust among people than through the direct contact offered by tourism. Tourism is a vehicle for the exchange of ideas; the learning and appreciation of different cultures. It is a means for promoting a moral and intellectual base for international understanding, respect and confidence; a base for shared goals and aspirations. Tourism is also a means of achieving the social and economic development of Third World nations in a manner which is sensitive to a country's social and cultural context.

Tourism, which is now the world's largest industry, has the promise of becoming the world's first "peace industry"; an industry which recognizes, promotes and supports the belief that every traveller is potentially an "Ambassador for Peace".

"The encounters engendered among people through travel are not only a condition for the realization of peace but a positive contribution towards peace. - Pope John Paul II.

With Canada's historic image as a "peacemaker", it is appropriate that the Canadian tourism industry is taking a lead role in creating a broader global awareness to the potential of tourism as a force for peace. The Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC), at its last annual meeting, unanimously endorsed steps currently being initiated to organize a major international conference on the theme Tourism as a Vital Force for Peace. The Conference is being organized in support of the United Nations' International Year of Peace.

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