Taking a realistic look at tourism in a time of terrorism: the travel industry must come to grips with the fact that it is caught in the middle of a war in which its clients can all too easily become victims.

• Author: Tarlow, Peter E.
• Position: Americans Abroad

THE MISS WORLD RIOTS that took place in Nigeria were more than a mere fight between what some might call religious fanatics and others might call a trivial indulgence of beauty. The Nigerian conflict is symbolic of the cultural wars raging across the globe between Western civilization and militant movements such as radical Islam.

In reality, these militant movements exist in every society. They are often composed of people who seek to create a world in which women are forced to remain virtual prisoners in the home, where people are judged not by the "quality of their person," but, rather, by the group to which they were born. These are movements that teach their members to hate the other person simply because he or she is part of another group, be it national, religious, linguistic, or ethnic. These cultural wars are unique in that they do not seek to control land as much as to dictate culture, win hearts and minds, and destroy economies.

Tourism, the world's largest industry, is caught directly in the forefront of these new conflicts. Ironically, mass tourism is a recent invention. Prior to World War II, travel often was only for the very wealthy or those unlucky enough to need to have to do so. Indeed, the modern word for travel is derived from the French word travail, meaning labor or work. Travail, in turn, is derived from the Latin word meaning pitchfork. For most of history, this term has been very appropriate. Since Word War II and the spread of capitalism, however, tourism has become not only an affordable commodity, but a pleasurable leisure activity. This change of attitude is so prevalent that the Western world has come to see travel as a basic human right. Along with the spread of capitalism has come phenomenal growth in international trade, and tourism has become part of that trade. From leisure to business travel and/or business plus pleasure travel, this modern industry plays a major role in economies around the globe.

Interestingly, the rise of heritage tourism has also provoked the rise of radical nostalgia, where people seeking a return to their imagined culture attempt to destroy current cultures. This mind-set could be reason enough for those wishing to turn the clock back to attack the tourism industry, but tourism faces still other challenges. For a starter, terrorists traditionally have sought to destroy national icons, many of which are the attractions upon which tourism is based. The Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, and the Prado are by definition targets of potential terrorist attacks. These icons are, in fact, the symbolic heart and soul of the country. As the keeper of a nation's icons, the...