Tourism is benefiting from a global standardization of safety. Airlines, airports and cruises all operate to international standards that help to reduce attacks. Although these safety standards don’t guarantee a terrorist attack won’t happen, they are an effective deterrent (Beirman, 2017). This leads to a greater sense of security and encourages people to travel.
The graph below shows that from 2000 to 2014, a very small proportion of the deaths from global terrorism occurred in Western countries with the exception of the 2001 attacks on the United States. Tourism between Western countries and most of the rest of the world is still very safe. However, terrorist attacks are high profile and can cause people to change travel plans to a perceived safer destination.
In addition, travel itself is safer than it has ever been. Each day, over 100,000 flights land without any safety problems. The result is that travelers feel happier more to go to more destinations, and more often, leading to a growth in international tourism.
