Zawaya

Tourism stuck between the reluctance of investors and the specter of terrorism

By: Mohamed Yehdih Ould Baba Ahmed

Terrorism, as an intercontinental social phenomenon, is a thorny issue for all countries in the world, especially North African ones, as it has found in their large desert a safe haven and fertile ground to capture its victims and achieve its purposes.

The ramifications of terrorism are not limited to the immediate consequences of the act, but they extend to various other sectors, including tourism. The present article will focus on tourism, and will treat two main points: 1) the impact of terrorist events on tourism revenue in North African countries, and 2) what can be done to protect tourism from the repercussions of terrorism.

1) The impact of terrorist events on tourism revenues in North African countries:

We can say that most of these countries have experienced in recent years terrorist attacks on tourists, varying from kidnapping to murder. Examples of such events are the Casablanca bombings in Morocco and the daily bloody events in Algeria.

Mauritania was no exception; we can consider what happened there. After the killing of three French tourists in the city of Alak in the center of the country in December 2007, the course of the Paris-Dakar rally was changed in order to avoid passing through Mauritanian territories. Add to that the immediate departure of the majority of tourists that were in the country at the time. A steady decline in the number of tourist arrivals was noted in Mauritania, which had a negative impact on the profitability of the sector, although it is a country that does not rely primarily on tourism. The same is applicable to other North African countries.

In Tunisia, which is a country that depends primarily on tourism, the kidnapping of tourists in the Tunisian desert last year and the current hostage takings in Mali have worsened the situation, which will result – in my opinion – in:

a) Reluctance of tourism investors to invest in these countries because of terrorist attacks,

b) Affecting mostly the workforce in tourism and the Gross Domestic Product.

2) What might be done to protect tourism from the repercussions of terrorism?

- Increase awareness of terrorism, as a criminal phenomenon that is unacceptable in all monotheistic religions, mores and international conventions. Terrorism has no country, religion or identity. The link between Islam and terrorism is totally non-existent. Islam rejects and fights all kind of terrorism. The best evidence of that is the way Islamic law criminalises and punishes those who perform unlawful warfare, which is also the case with the rest of the monotheistic religions.

- Raise the level of security measures in all tourist facilities, in order to ensure providing security for tourists.

- Focus all media means on the principle of behavior modification, meaning that suicide is usually caused by mental illness resulting from depression or injustice disrupting the balance of the community.

- Involving moderate imams and scholars in the fight against terrorism, through sermons in mosques and opening the media to them.

- Using negotiation with terrorists as a method to determine their goals.

Finally, we can say that in light of the growing number of terrorist attacks, and the resulting cessation of movement of tourists on the one hand, and the investors’ change of heart on the other, tourism stands in limbo.