Introduction

On July 6, 2013, Asiana Airlines Flight 214 from Seoul, South Korea, destined for San Francisco with 307 people on-board, crashed, injuring 182 people and killing 2. The incident dominated the U.S. news. Newscasters and media journalists analyzed every minute of the crash and the events leading up it. For at least 2 days, it appeared as if nothing else occurred in the world. In reality, a great deal was occurring, from a bloody civil war in Syria, to major economic crises in Europe, to gang murders in Chicago. Other news simply ceased to exist while the attention of the U.S. media became fixated on the crash of Asiana Flight 214, with the media paying a great deal of attention on issues of human error.

This chapter does not enter into the engineering details of plane crashes; however, it does examine the public’s perception of what it perceives to be a danger in the skies and how these perceptions are translated into the world of tourism surety. “Surety” is the key word here for numerous reasons. The Western world is as dependent on air traffic for travel and commerce as the ancient world was dependent on water transportation. In other decades control of the seas and rivers meant not only control of economies, but it also transformed into military prowess. In today’s world, sea travel is still necessary for commerce and often for military success, but ever since the Berlin airlift of 1948, the public has understood the importance of aviation as a military and political tool. By the 1960s, businesses became international and began working across borders and in many different countries. This internationalization meant that many businesspeople became dependent on efficient and safe air travel in order to conduct business around the world. The aviation industry also promoted air travel as a luxurious experience, and thus people could now fly with ease and comfort to their vacation spots or combine air and car travel in what was called a “fly-drive vacation.” In all of these areas, the public assumed that despite the fact that a person was thousands of miles above the earth, air travel was safe and efficient. Air safety became of paramount importance, especially as the world of aviation entered into the age of the jumbo jets.

The Distinction Between Security and Safety

If we distinguish security from safety, in the earlier decades security was a different issue in aviation. The hijackings of multiple planes to Cuba in the 1960s were often taken at first in a somewhat light-hearted manner. In most cases, airplanes were hijacked for a short while and the passengers and plane were soon returned. In October 2012, Patrick Weidinger, a specialist in aviation security and hijackings, called the period between 1958 and 1970 the “golden age of hijackings.” In 1969, there were 82 planes hijacked from the United States to Cuba. During this period, it was not clear what was to be done with hijackers or how to prevent hijacking. Although these hijackings were relatively benign, they alerted the public to the fact that not only did air travelers have to worry about the flight’s safety but also about the flight’s security. To add to this confusion, no one was quite sure if these were political acts, criminal acts, copycat actions, or pranks. Not only did hijackings destroy people’s travel schedules, but also no one knew where the rash of hijackings would lead. This so-called Golden Age came to its conclusion in 1973 when (1) Cuba and the United States agreed that hijackers would be returned to the United States for criminal prosecution, and (2) the United States introduced the metal detector.

Table 7.1 indicates that the U.S. hijackings may have begun with political motives, but soon became vehicles for robbery and extortion. The preferred weapon of choice was a gun, but the claim that a bomb was on-board became an important new weapon. What began as an inconvenience soon turned into a very different and more deadly experience. By the 1980s, hijacking (or “skyjacking” as it came to be known) was no longer a mere inconvenience, but had become a deadly political weapon. A few incidents show the extent of how deadly hijacking had become.

Issues of Commonality in Hijackings

There are certain goals that most hijackers have in mind when planning a hijacking, which include:

• Media attention. Most hijackers do not seek financial gain, but rather seek publicity or political success for a particular cause. The old adage that “all publicity is good publicity” is true for hijackings. The hijacking of a plane receives wide media coverage. This coverage means that the group’s cause and name now become public. From the hijackers’ perspective, the longer the incident lasts, the more publicity their cause receives.

• The airline industry is a major part of not only the transportation industry but also the tourism industry. In fact, anything that hurts the tourism industry also hurts a state or nation’s overall economy. When terrorists hijack a plane, they not only receive media coverage, but they also cause both immediate and long-term economic loss. A terrorist hijacking may also result in loss of life. Even failed attacks produce a great amount of inconvenience for the traveling public. The case of Richard Reid, the infamous “shoe bomber,” serves as a perfect example. On December 22, 2001, Reid attempted to bomb American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami. The public was still reeling from the 9/11 attacks that had occurred earlier that year, and Reid was apprehended by a flight attendant and other passengers. Although Reid was arrested, he succeeded in further damaging the airline industry by causing a new policy to be implemented. Passengers in nations such as the United States were now required to remove their shoes for inspection before boarding a flight. This measure was meant to be an additional protection measure, but many airline passengers questioned if shoe removal was nothing more than a bureaucratic overreaction. It is not clear if shoe removal made air travel safer.

Some scholars have attempted to measure airline security on a cost–benefit basis. In an essay titled “Assessing the Risks, Costs and Benefits of United States Aviation Security Measures” by Stewart and Mueller, the authors note that although the hardening of cockpit doors has proved to be cost-effective, the use of air marshals has not. Their analysis reduces hijacking to a statistical number. Such a number may have great value from an actuarial perspective, but tourism is not only about numbers. It is a business with a long after-life and often lives as much on perceptions as it does on facts. Thus, the traveling public, especially the leisure traveling public, often panics and this sense of panic may, if enough media attention is given to the incident, last for many years (Mueller & Stewart, 2008).

Hijacking then takes on at least three different aspects. First, on a national level, it may become part of the political or economic narrative within that country. Many nations have developed both preventative and legal policies to deal with internal hijackings. Second, on the international level, hijackings can become a more complicated issue. For example, the hijacker may take the plane to a country that has no diplomatic relations with the nation of origin or is at a state of war with the latter nation. The United Nations has enacted a number of conventions and protocols to deal with hijacking and considers it an unlawful act. These acts, however, do not mean that any particular nation may choose to respect the protocols of an enemy nation, or protect its citizens. Thus, there is the potential for innocent civilians to be held as hostages or pawns. Third, the hijacking may do great harm to a nation’s tourism industry, to its reputation, and to its overall economic well-being.

Counter-Hijacking Measures

For all of the above reasons, tourism industries, airlines, and national governments have joined forces to prevent airline hijackings. Although at first most people did not realize the seriousness of hijackings. (There are a few exceptions to this statement, such as the Israeli airline, EL AL. In fact, EL AL has built a reputation on being a secure airline and has often been able to charge higher fares due to the fact that the airline is perceived to be safe.) After 9/11 most people understood that hijacking was an act of asymmetrical warfare. Once that perception entered into the public, governmental, and business consciousness, new rules were developed and it soon became clear that simply asking for a person’s driver’s license and if the passenger packed his or her own bags was not enough.

Current counter-hijacking measures are based around a series of concentric circles. These include:

• Encouraging passengers to become aware of their surroundings and fellow passengers.

• Hardening the airport’s defenses and creating “sanitized” zones.

• Greater examination of luggage.

• Making the plane itself more secure.

Each one of these steps has a series of substeps. Often visitors turn to popular Web sources for information concerning what to do. The following is an example of one of these popular Web-based sources and the information that it gives to its readers. In the e-line news service “wikiHow,” six steps are given for passengers to protect themselves against a terrorist attack. These include:

1. Before boarding the plane, be alert to what is going on around you. There should be no unattended luggage. Passengers want to be sure that they have full control of their own luggage and that no piece of luggage is ever left unattended. In a like manner, the now famous phrase “see something, say something” is an important part of personal security. If you feel something is wrong, then listen to your gut.

2. Being aware of what other terrorists have done in the past, such as the shoe bomber and the underwear bomber. The authors point out that alert passengers are safe passengers.

3. Choose proper clothing. Airplanes are not meant to be fashion shows; they are meant as forms of transportation. Wearing light, comfortable, and nonflammable clothing is an important part of a personal evacuation should that ever be needed. Women should not wear heels, and people should use vision aids that are least likely to fail during an emergency.

4. Listen to and read about the plane’s safety steps. Too many people simply do not listen to the flight attendant’s briefings and then review visually the passengers who are in close proximity. Ask yourself in case of an emergency: who is the strongest person in close proximity, where are children located, and how close am I to an emergency exit?

5. Have a plan in mind should there be an attack. The old pattern of simply doing nothing and thereby appeasing the attacker may no longer be the best plan. However, you do not want to stand out in a crowd or raise the attacker’s suspicion or anxiety level. Decide if you want to attack first or be submissive and establish a rapport with your abductors.

6. Should you decide to fight: be prepared that the person may have a knife. Do not try to take the attacker on alone, but rather think how you can get other passengers to aid in the attack. Your highest chance of success will come if you can catch the hijackers off guard (http://www.wikihow.com/End-a-Plane-Hijacking).

Hardening the Terminal

Experts in security use the word “hardening” to mean making a target less vulnerable or making it less susceptible to an attack. It should always be remembered that there is no such thing as 100% security. All life, reputations, and locations are always vulnerable and there is nothing made by human beings that cannot be destroyed. Nevertheless, experts can lessen a locale’s vulnerability, and this lessening is called “hardening.”

In the United States, airport and security professionals after the 9/11 attacks realized that they could not merely depend on passengers, but that airport terminals would have to become harder to target. To make the airports less likely targets, numerous measures have been taken around the world. Many airports were built, however, in a different era, and the airport’s architecture does not lend itself easily to airport security, checkpoints, and metal detectors. Often airports need to be redesigned so as to accommodate a world that demands greater security. Airports have developed numerous ways to increase security. These include:

1. Vehicles are not permitted in close proximity of the terminal.

2. Vehicles are examined before being allowed to enter the terminal’s premises. The preparking scan, however, is not easy to accomplish, as passengers normally carry baggage with them, and the opening of car trunks or the random scanning of vehicles hardens the target, but does not ensure security. Newer airports are taking into account the principles of CPTED (crime prevention through environmental design) and the CPTED offshoot TPTED (terrorism protection through environmental design). For example, many airports have found ways to remove blind spots from their security observers so that security personnel have a clear line of sight not only from the naked eye, but also via observational points and cameras.

3. The use of body scanners and metal detectors. Perhaps the most common way to protect a large part of the airport and its airplanes is through the use of mechanical devices such as body scanners and metal detectors. Certainly these machines have proved themselves effective in having found numerous weapons and other prohibited objects. Nevertheless, it should be noted that they are only as effective as the people watching the machine. Although a great many weapons have been caught, there are still too many that get past these machines. Furthermore, often airport security machine personnel demonstrate lack of motivation (or overmotivation), a poor understanding of the travel experience, and signs of both physical and mental fatigue.

4. Airport peripheral areas. Security personnel have questioned some of the security measures that governments have instituted. Although the areas beyond the security checkpoints are relatively safe, the precheckpoint areas are another matter. The same can be said for many airports where people must go to pick up luggage. Not only are many of these areas minimally guarded, but because so many security personnel have been moved into other areas of the airport, there is often no one guarding luggage as it comes off the conveyor belt. This lack of human supervision produces not only luggage that is taken by mistake, but means that luggage is open to being stolen or having a foreign object placed within it.

5. Other areas of concern. Some of the other areas of concern are airport parking lots and garages, many of which are connected to the terminal and intertransportation (that connects to other forms of transportation, such as rails and bus service with the heart of the airport).

Greater Examination of Luggage

Another method of making an airplane (and the same also applies to cruises) more secure is through the examination of cargo. In the world of air travel, cargo tends to fall into three categories:

1. Shipped cargo (e.g., packages and mail)

2. Personal cargo (e.g., checked luggage)

3. On-board cargo (e.g., carry-on luggage, handbags, medical equipment)

Each of these forms of cargo requires special treatment. From the tourism security perspective, the security professional must be able to enforce rules while acting in a civil and professional manner. Because tourism is such a media-covered industry, any mishandling of a passenger will almost immediately become a news item. On the other hand, the public demands full protection and does not tolerate security mistakes.

In the United States, as in most nations, civil aviation authorities and law enforcement agencies such as the police have been given the authority to inspect all baggage and also the traveler’s person. This means that if security believes that a passenger’s luggage or person may be a threat to the aircraft, other passengers, or the airport, the security professional has a right to investigate as he or she believes is necessary, or to deny boarding for that passenger. Most countries also have the following policies:

1. If the passenger refuses to cooperate, then that passenger is subject to the laws of the nation from which the aircraft is to depart. Carriers have the right to deny a passenger boarding rights should he or she not cooperate with security personnel.

2. Each nation has lists of who may perform baggage and personal examinations. The aircraft’s captain always has the right to conduct further investigations even after the passenger has boarded the aircraft.

There is little doubt that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) still has problems with its current system(s). In December 2008, it was announced that full-body scanners would be used at U.S. airports. The full-body scanners were not only disliked by the public, but took a great deal of time to pass through and, despite the government’s assurances to the contrary, many people questioned their impact on personal health due to the fear of radiation. Furthermore, there were questions as to the protection of personal privacy.

The scanners were disliked enough that on May 31, 2013, Fox News reported that:

Furthermore, many other types of scanning machines often find false-positives such as peanut butter jars, baseballs, or sports equipment. Some experts believe that the rate of false-positives falls between 18% and 35% of all baggage examined. Other experts note that screeners became less careful as the number of false-positives increases. Freelance writer Beth Pinsker quotes Isaac Yeffet, formerly of EL AL airlines (considered to be the world’s safest airline), as stating, “Let's say I'm a screener, and I open the luggage to do a search and find chocolate or peanut butter—I'm happy because I found what the machine flagged” (Pinsker, 2003, para. 10). Yeffet goes on to state: “I can assure you, from my experience and knowledge…that most of the explosives will be in a false bottom” (para. 10). Yeffet notes that EL AL trains its personnel not to be machine operators, but rather to be “security professionals” who can think on their own. Pinsker goes on to ask the question: “What constitutes success? The answer of course is a machine that identifies every bomb while keeping false positives to a tolerable level. That's a formula sure to please passengers…” (para. 23).

In the United States, the TSA publishes a regularly updated list of what is allowed and not allowed on planes. For passengers confused as to what may or may not be allowed, the TSA provides an online Web service that allows passengers to ask questions. Some of the items that have long been on the TSA’s not-allowed list include:

• Sharp objects

• Sporting goods that may cause harm

• Guns and firearms

• Tools that can become weapons

• Martial arts and self-defense items that may become weapons

• Explosive and flammable materials, disabling chemicals, and other dangerous items

• Other items as determined by TSA agents

Perhaps the best way to handle the “what to bring” question is to realize that flying is a privilege and not a right, and that when we are on an airplane we are dealing not only with our own personal safety but also that of our fellow passengers and that of the crew.

Making the Plane Itself More Secure

There have been various methods to ensure the hardening of the aircraft itself, especially once it is in the sky. Although no one will provide (nor should it be provided) a full list of on-board security policies, some have become well known. Among these are:

1. The use of air marshals on selective flights.

2. The locking of the cockpit door.

3. Additional training for all flight attendants. Being aware of what is happening on the plane may be a major deterrent.

4. Because most cargo is not passenger cargo (it is estimated that the number is well below 50%), it is important that cargo also be inspected. To ensure the plane’s security, air cargo is subject to random searches and X-raying; other suggestions (some of which have been implemented) include the reinforcing of cargo holds and passenger plane airframes. A number of transportation companies have developed “blast-proof baggage containers” and it is rumored that EL AL now has multiple devices on board to deflect an incoming missile.

It is almost impossible to write about airline safety and ignore the EL AL model. There are those people who approve and there are those who disapprove of some of EL AL’s practices, but most people have come to see this model as the standard for the industry. Although there is a great deal we do not know about EL AL security, there is also a great deal that has been made public. Included in these known facts are:

1. Airport security personnel are well-educated professionals who speak at least two languages.

2. Airport and national security agencies work together and share intelligence.

3. Israeli security agents are tested throughout the world and throughout the year. If a security person fails an infield test, he or she immediately loses his or her job.

4. When it comes to the security of its planes and passengers, EL AL ignores issues of political correctness. In EL AL, world profiling is not a bad word and is done along psychological lines.

5. Psychological profiling is also accomplished by interviewing all passengers prior to boarding the plane. EL AL does not have technicians. Instead, it has security specialists who are trained to read signals given off from every part of the body.

6. EL AL was the first to not only lock cockpit doors, but also to reinforce them.

7. EL AL planes use a system called “flight guard.” This system, developed in Israel, protects planes from incoming missiles and/or flares sent off to confuse the airplane’s protection system.

8. EL AL uses air marshals and well-trained flight personnel who work in concert to make sure that every EL AL flight is safe.

Issues of Fire at Airports

Because many parts of an airport are one-way streets (entrances without exits), fire safety and design are especially important, especially in a period of time in which the majority of emphasis is on counter-terrorism. It should be remembered that a terrorist has a great many tools in his or her arsenal and the use of fire as a weapon to destroy both property and lives should not be discounted. For example, security specialists tend to see airport check-in, security, and immigration customs lines as challenges. These lines may produce bottlenecks where orderly lines quickly melt into chaos. Airports must have a fire evacuation strategy that permits the exiting of potentially large numbers of people in areas that are not designed for two-way pedestrian passages. What is true of the public areas of an airport is also true of the airport’s “off-limit zones.” Cargo areas are prime locales for a fire and this fire may then quickly spread to any number of locales. Should the fire in any way mix with fuel services, then a tragedy can easily turn into a catastrophe. Airport security specialists then need to identify all areas where a fire may break out and have a plan in place to contain the fire and evacuate large numbers of people in a minimum amount of time. Because airports welcome people from around the world, airport signage must be such that a person can understand it even if the person does not read the local language.

Other Suggestions in Hardening Air Travel

There are numerous methods that have been tried around the world. The author does not endorse any of the ideas found below; they are merely creative ideas. It is necessary, however, to make sure terrorists understand that we are constantly changing our security models and that we are not merely reacting to what “was,” but working hard to ensure that it “will not be.” Here are a few suggestions:

1. Require all flight personnel and especially pilots to have a background check, and use the top psychological models to make sure that pilots are not suicidal.

2. Consider allowing police officers to fly at a deep discount if they carry a weapon and handcuffs.

3. Determine what passengers really can and cannot carry. The belief that a plastic baggie worth less than a penny can protect a plane from exploding toothpaste is simply silly.

4. Take protective measures at both check-in counters and bag claim.

5. Have an air marshal on every flight and have this person in a different seat each time.

6. Provide pilots and other air crew with pepper spray or other similar substances.

7. Use some form of iris screening to identify passengers.

8. Develop new techniques so that if the pilot is incapable of landing the plane, others can land it with or without knowledge of special equipment.

9. Run a counter-terrorism video on the airplane prior to take-off, telling people that in case of a terrorist attack, not to panic and that the pilot may take certain precautions.

10. Make sure that the cockpit is totally isolated from the rest of the plane; use double doors or nonbreakable doors.

11. Require all crewmembers to be trained in counter-terrorism techniques.

Issues of Health

Although terrorism often grabs the headlines, perhaps an even more important issue is that of health. Health issues in the air take on three separate dimensions:

1. Passenger health, the ability not to get sick while flying.

2. Cross-continental and transnational health issues. This topic includes the transporting of illnesses from one place to another, and the exposing of populations to risks that normally do not exist in the host society.

3. Use of illness as a “weapon” of mass destruction. In this case, a person who is intentionally ill is sent to another airport or nation for the expressed purpose of carrying an illness from one location to another.

There are a number of health risks that can impact any airline passenger, especially when the passenger is on a long trip (4 hours or more) and seated with minimal legroom. Deep vein thrombosis, for example, may be one of the traveler’s greatest risks. Most airline Websites offer some guidance on how to avoid this problem through the use of exercises in place, the encouragement of taking a walk every few hours, and care in drinking a minimum of alcohol. For example, the United Airlines Website offers the following suggestions:

Flying entails other risks. For example, an article written by various doctors found on the Federal Aviation Administration Website notes that:

Because air travel is the most common form of travel, there are bound to be in-flight emergencies ranging from the birth of a child to a heart attack. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a book on health for travelers. Chapter 6 of this book states:

In addition to standard first-aid kits, depending on the size of the aircraft and applicable regulations, enhanced emergency medical kits may include, but are not limited to:

• Automatic external defibrillators

• Intubation equipment (pediatric and adult)

• CPR masks (pediatric and adult)

• Intravenous access equipment and solutions

• Intravenous dextrose

• Antihistamines (oral and injectable)

• First-line cardiac resuscitation drugs (atropine, epinephrine, lidocaine)

• Nitroglycerin

• Bronchodilators

• Analgesics

Diseases Carried from One Nation or Continent to Another

In 2011, the movie Contagion was released as a major motion picture. The movie is part of an ongoing genre of movies dealing with pandemics. Scientists and pandemic experts noted the accuracy of Contagion. The movie deals with a fast-moving pandemic. As in real life the medical community must not only scramble to find a cure, but it is unclear who may be transmitting the disease and what the role of air transportation may be in the spreading of the pandemicunderlines the fact that it is not only the disease that is creating social havoc on a macro level but also the human proclivity to panic in the face of a silent killer. The panic causes the unraveling of much of society and this unraveling becomes a crisis in and of itself.

Although the movie is pure fiction, it serves to remind the tourism security professional that travelers, especially international travelers, may transmit diseases from one part of the world to another, either knowingly or unknowingly. This potential hazard is especially true if the host country has wiped out the disease and its population is not immune to it. Because airlines are not only an enclosed space but also carry people from multiple nationalities the potential to transmit disease is extremely high. Furthermore, most airlines use a hub-and-wheel method for flights and this means that people from various parts of the world may be feed into one hub. Thus, the passengers on a plane may have originated in various locations. The potential for illness may begin in the host locale, pass onto one or more terminals, be carried on an airplane, and finally infect people in the receiving locale. In June 2012, CNN provided a list of the 10 top airports for spreading diseases in the United States (Table 7.2).

To add to the problem is the case of a media scare concerning a new pandemic. At least during the initial period it may not be clear where transmission is found or what the incubation period may be. Some of the airborne illnesses that have worried both medical personnel and travelers alike are:

• Tuberculosis

• Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)

• Common colds

• Influenzas

• Meningococcal diseases

• Malaria

• Dengue

• Measles

• Food-borne illnesses

A good example of a false panic is SARS. The so-called SARS pandemic became a media event and did a great deal of damage to both Hong Kong and Toronto, Canada. In the case of Toronto, there were many more traffic fatalities than there were deaths caused by SARS and no one outside of a hospital environment was stricken with the illness. Another example is the 2006 outbreaks of avian (bird) flu (H5N1) in various nations around the world. These outbreaks caught the tourism industry's attention. Despite the great amount of publicity given to avian flu, it is important to note that as of this writing there have been less than 700 people so far who have contracted the disease.

The SARS panic caused far fewer deaths than did traffic accidents in the impacted places, but the panic that SARS caused created economic havoc. Although the media was a major component in scaring the public, reality proved to be different than what was stated on television. The tourism security officer then needs to be aware of not only the facts but also the perception of the facts as presented in the media. As a tourism security specialist you need to know that:

• Tourism is highly vulnerable to a panic situation. The days after 9/11 ought to have retaught the tourism industry that for most people travel is a leisure purchase based on want rather than need. If travelers become afraid they may simply cancel their trips. In such cases, there may be massive layoffs of tourism workers.

• You must be prepared to take care of sick employees and their families. The people staffing the tourism industry are also human. That means that their families and they are also susceptible to illnesses. Should large numbers of staff (or their families) become sick, hotels and restaurants may have to close simply due to manpower shortages. Tourism industry people need to develop plans on how they will maintain their industry while suffering from manpower shortages.

• Security personnel must be prepared to take care of visitors who fall ill and may not know how to contact local medical authorities or even speak the language of the local doctors. Another problem to be considered is how the tourism industry will aid people who fall sick while on vacation. Medical notices will need to be distributed in multiple languages; people will need ways to communicate to loved ones and to describe symptoms to medical personnel in their own language.

• Security personnel must be prepared to fight against a pandemic not only from the medical perspective, but also from the marketing/information perspective. Because the public may well panic it is important that the tourism industry be prepared to offer concrete and credible information. This information should be given to the public almost immediately. Every tourism office should have an information plan ready should a pandemic occur in its area. Develop creative Websites so that people can gain information any time of the day and without regard to where they may be located.

• Security personnel must be prepared to counter negative publicity with an action program. For example, in areas that have been impacted by a disease, make sure to advise travelers to stay current with their vaccinations and create medical information sheets. It is essential that the public know where to go for information, as well as what is true versus what is false. For travelers who may not be up-to-date with current shots, offer lists of doctors and clinics willing to accept traveler's insurance.

• An up-to-date first-aid kit and proper preventative procedures at hotels and other places of lodging. For example, make sure that employees use antibacterial hand wipes and encourage hotels to provide these for travelers.

• Security personnel must be prepared to work with travel insurance companies. In case of a pandemic, travelers may not receive value for money and may desire to either cancel a trip or cut it short. The best way to maintain good will is by working with such organizations as the United States Travel Industry Association (in Canada, it is called Travel and Health Industry Association of Canada). Develop travel health programs with these organizations so that visitors feel financially protected.

• Be prepared to work with the media. A pandemic is like any other tourism crisis and should be treated as such. Prepare for it before it strikes. If it should occur, set your action plan in place and make sure that you work with the media. Finally, have a recovery plan set so that once the crisis has abated you can begin a financial recovery program.

The bottom line is that air travel may not produce illnesses, but the transfer of large numbers of people from one place to the next may be a source of worry not only for medical authorities, but also for tourism security professionals.

Terrorism-Based Illnesses

If an unintentional disease or pandemic can send the tourism industry into a panic, then an intentionally planned attack could have catastrophic results. Tourism security specialists realize that their industry could be used as part of some form of biological warfare.

Tourism is based on the premise that we live in an interconnected world. For the most part, this interconnectivity has brought a great deal of benefits to millions of people. Nevertheless, there is nothing gained in this world without a price. One of the prices we all pay for bringing the world together is that we are not only open to new cultural experiences, but also new biological threats. As Newsweek noted in its April 29, 2009, issue in reference to the swine influenza:

The tourism industry is particularly vulnerable to biological warfare, especially in the form of contagious illnesses such as smallpox. Because tourism is a peacetime and often leisure industry, it can become the perfect undercover delivery system. Here are just a few reasons for this:

1. Traveling today, especially in a world with limited visa restrictions, is relatively easy.

2. Airports are hubs with thousands of people going to any number of places. These are easy centers in which to expose people to contagious diseases and they will then act as carriers to any number of other places.

3. Often travelers make more than one stop. These additional stops mean a greater potential for infection. It can also become exceedingly difficult to develop the common thread that unites all of the infected victims.

4. Tourism receives a great deal of publicity. Once the epidemic (pandemic/disease) is identified by the media, there is a high probability of some form of panic.

5. Tourism is a major economic generator in and of itself and numerous other industries are also dependent on the travel industry. If the public fears travel, the economy will be severely injured if not destroyed.

What makes many of these potential diseases scary is that they are easy to produce/make, and the delivery system may be almost impossible to detect. Furthermore, were terrorists to use a powder of anthrax or get someone ill with smallpox organisms, these diseases would be almost impossible to detect until it was too late. To make matters still worse, the physicians attending the sick might lose valuable time until they were able to determine the cause of the illness. Additionally, health workers might panic, leaving the sick unattended and the public in a state of alarm.

Finally, tourism security specialists and professionals will need to be concerned about not only the movement of people, but also the threat to food and the movement of contaminated food from one location to another. These are special threats to people who may eat contaminated food, then board an airplane and not realize that they are sick until they are at the next locale or in the air. For example, the World Health Organization notes that:

The world is an interconnected planet. The good news is that tourism allows people to get to know each other and understand each other from around the world. The bad news is that often we bring other baggage when we travel than merely our suitcases!

Train Travel as Tourism

Although air travel, especially in tourism, is the most preferred form of public transportation, other forms of transportation have long played a part in tourism. In an earlier chapter, we discussed the cruise industry and its impact on tourism. In this chapter, we turn to two other forms of land tourism travel: travel by train and travel by bus and motor coach.

Perhaps no form of travel has captured the public’s imagination as much as the train called the Orient Express. Portrayed in film and in literature, this train has come to be the epicenter of both intrigue and romance within nineteenth-century Europe. The actual train began service from Paris to Constantinople (now Istanbul) in October 1883. The media dubbed the train the “Orient Express,” and the name stuck. The “luxury” train became a favorite of European royalty and was also known as the “spies express.” A number of movies portrayed the train as a center of spies and even murder, and this portrayal added to the train’s acquired glamor (Zax, 2007). The Orient Express was not the only train to be considered romantic in the nineteenth- and twentieth-century world of train travel. U.S. trains have also become part of what we might call the “romance of the Old West.”

Train travel began in the United States in the early part of the nineteenth century. With the expansion toward the western states, train travel had the advantage of comfort and speed over horse travel, especially over long distances. Trains in the United States had three main purposes: transportation of goods, transportation of people, and in the latter part of the century, more luxurious trains provided tourism experiences to parts of the United States that were relatively unknown to a large part of the nation’s eastern population. Train travel, however, was not without problems. Not only was there the problem of derailments and other mechanical breakdowns, but there were also issues of attacks by “hostile” natives and by robbers. Many of these “security issues” became part of the U.S. movie industry and added to a sense of adventure. In 2010, National Geographic published its list of the top 10 train trips in North America. The list included:

In the latter part of the twentieth century, train travel, which had fallen into a downward spiral, began to take on new life in tourism. The reasons for this renaissance were economic and involved issues of security. These included:

• Trains were considered to be more ecologically friendly. They can carry more people for less use of energy.

• Trains were considered by some to be safer. There was less publicity given to a train disaster than to an air disaster.

• The introduction of the bullet train in Japan and Europe made train travel a lot faster than it had been in the past.

• The “EuroPass” gave thousands of young North Americans a train travel experience that they had not had at home.

• Senior citizens and young people had the extra time to travel by train and see the countryside as they traveled.

Despite the fact that train travel is somewhat immune to accidents, violence, and even terrorism, the reality is that it is not immune. Found below is a listing of some of the worst train accidents in the last 25 years:

One of the most recent tragic incidents involving train travel occurred in Spain in July 2013. The crash is important not only in that it was one of Spain’s worst disasters since 1944, but also because it symbolizes that all forms of transportation carry risk. The accident took place near Santiago de Compostela, a major tourism center, especially for religious tourism. Although it will take some time to know all of the facts, as of this writing, we know that at least 79 people died when the train derailed. The train’s conductor has pled guilty to having spoken on a cell phone while taking a major curve at a speed well above what the law permitted. It is clear from the evidence given that human error caused the crash. The victims came from numerous nations around the world, and to quote one news source: “The crash has cast a pall over the town, a Catholic pilgrimage site. Santiago officials had been preparing for the religious feast of St. James of Compostela, Spain's patron saint, the day after the crash, but canceled it and turned a local sporting arena into a morgue” (“Driver in Spain train crash,” 2013, para. 23).

Tragedy has struck the Spanish rail system in other ways. For example, on March 11, 2004, bombs went off almost simultaneously in various commuter trains entering the city of Madrid. These explosions killed 191 people and wounded over 1,800 other innocent victims. The bombings may have not only murdered and injured a great many people, but may have caused the prime minister at the time to lose the election. Spain’s new government then pulled out of its involvement in the Iraq war.

From both the train accidents and terrorism attacks, a number of facts begin to emerge:

• Although train travel is considered less dangerous than air travel, the reality is that in both forms of transportation, there is always risk.

• Although most governments place their resources into airline protection, the possibility of a terrorism attack against a train, especially against a commuter train, is ever present.

• Currently trains are a weak link in the world of tourism security.

• Nations would be wise to consider the consequences of attacks against not only people but also against cargo. Often trains carry dangerous chemicals or other substances through populated areas.

Train transportation then is an area about which not only tourism security officials need to concern themselves, but general security officials also.

Bus Tourism

It would be incomplete to consider tourism transportation security and not also mention the motor coach part of the market. In reality, there are several areas that we might call “bus tourism.” These include:

1. Local buses used by both members of the local population and at times visitors to the community.

2. Intercity buses used by both members of the local population and visitors.

3. Buses that are rented for either a party or an affinity group, such as a school or business association.

4. Tour buses. These may be local buses that work with larger companies such as a cruise line or they may have set routes by which they take visitors to specific attractions in a specific locale. The English Double Decker city tour buses are a good example of this type of bus. Often both European and American cities have day-long and half-day tour buses that provide an overview of the locale.

5. Motor coaches, which may be considered a more luxurious form of tourism and are used specifically for the visitor industry. We may define a motor coach as somewhat akin to a cruise on land.

Motor coaches, however, are both similar and different from other forms of tourism transportation for the following reasons:

1. They tend to have either affinity groups or groups that become affinity groups. That is, they do not accept passenger traffic along the way.

2. Unlike cruises, they provide lodging and food in other accommodations such as hotels or motels.

3. There tends to be a relationship between the driver and the passengers.

4. Baggage may be taken off the bus at every overnight stop.

5. Like the tour bus, their goal is the visitation of specific sites, but unlike the tour bus, the drivers tend to develop a relationship with the passengers over time, and the travel duration is much more than a day.

Motor coaches must distinguish between issues of safety and security. In both cases, there is safety and security on the bus and off it. Table 7.3 illustrates some of the many complex issues facing motor coach companies in regard to issues of safety and security.

Although a motor coach is vulnerable to all of the above, few incidents occur. Most incidents tend to be with tour buses that are sometimes confused with motor coaches. Part of the reason for motor coach safety and security is that the National Tour Association (NTA) spends a great deal of time encouraging both mechanical and human safety and security. In the appendix of this chapter, for example, you will find the Crisis Management Plan Structure. The Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety would disagree. This organization argues that there have been between 1990 and 2012 at least 317 deaths and some 3,111 injuries. However, it is essential to note that the organization then states that:

It should be noted that tourism bus safety in many places does not meet international standards. The rape of tourists in front of other passengers while the bus was traveling to Rio de Janeiro notes a lack of security. In countries such as Peru and Mexico, road and travel conditions are more than lacking. Below are two of the many bus tragedies that made the news around the world.

APPENDIX: NTA's CRISIS MANAGEMENT PLAN STRUCTURE¹

The following outline will help tour operators develop and personalize a step-by-step management plan to put into action at a time of crisis. Tour operators should share their crisis plan with suppliers they will use on tour to ensure there is coordination in the time of a crisis.