Overview

What are the lessons that we have learned from the theoretical chapters and the case studies described in this book? By now it is possible to conclude that:

• Safety and security incidents will continue to occur at tourist destinations regardless of the efforts made by the private and public sector to prevent them. Since the majority of safety and security incidents, be they natural (such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc.), man-made (such as crime, terrorism, war, etc.), or health hazards, are caused by factors outside the control of tourists destinations, it is practically impossible to totally eradicate them.

• An absolute majority of safety and security incidents occurring at tourist destinations will have some degree of negative impact on affected destinations and their tourism industry, though the severity of the impact is not uniform and is influenced by numerous factors.

• Though it is impossible to totally prevent the occurrence of safety and security incidents, destinations can prepare themselves for the occurrence of such incidents through crisis planning and thus reduce their negative impacts on the community, its economy, the tourism industry, and the tourists themselves.

• The private sector (i.e., the tourism industry) bears the major responsibility for preventing or reducing the number of safety and security incidents occurring on their own properties. The public sector and, most importantly, governments of host destinations, bear the major responsibility for ensuring a high level of security for visiting tourists.

• There are...