Business as usual
Business as usualAll the travel industry has to offer has been on show this week at World Travel Market in London’s ExCeL.
From destination marketing to seminars, conferences, training events, lunches, charity events, competitions, celebrity visits. You name it, it was there.
But behind the razzmatazz, the industry has been discussing some pressing issues including sustainable tourism, harnessing the online market and how to tap into the Chinese market.
But it is security that has the potential to wreak havoc for the industry.
It is an issue that flies in the face of the fun, energy and aspirations of the travel industry and its consumers. Security and holidaying just don’t go together. Tanks at Heathrow, followed by hours of queuing are not what you need before you jet off for a relaxing holiday.
Well, it’s all change now. Security threats are now a part of business and are here to stay.
US intelligence adviser Dr Marvin Cetron told an audience of industry leaders at WTM that the tourism industry will increasingly become a target. And he defended the use of recent restrictions on hand luggage as necessary, saying that if hand luggage seen as a weak link, terrorists would exploit it.
His predictions, however sombre, have to be taken on board. And this week’s news demonstrates why.
Al-Qaeda member Dhiren Barot has been jailed for 40 years for plotting to bomb targets in London and the US. Among the London targets were the Savoy, Berkeley and Dorchester hotels.
The travel industry must sit up and recognise the threat, and take appropriate action. And it has to adopt a business-as-usual policy, so no mean feat.
As Travel Trust Association director Todd Carpenter put it: “We have to be aware of these things to safeguard people. But the point of terrorism is to deter people from doing normal things. People have to learn to exist with the new paradigm.”
The good news is that the United Nations launched a new website this week dedicated to help the industry cope with disasters. The UN is looking for feedback on before its full launch in February. Find out more at ternalert.org.