How visitors perceive the risk of terrorism in cities? Framework analysis of fear-arousing walking interviews
Abstract
A special relationship exists between terrorism and tourism. Explanations of the relationship have been subject of academic debates ever since 1980s.
Apart from descriptive case studies, however, the effects of terrorism on tourism have been mainly studied from a quantitative-research perspective. Moreover, previous research has largely focused on the effects of terrorism ahead of travelling (e.g. the effects on a destination choice) and omitted the role of terrorism during the visit.
This contribution aims to overcome these and other un- or under-researched topics in the terrorism-tourism nexus. Specifically, the aim of the study is to evaluate urban visitors' perceptions of the risk of terrorism with a main focus on factors affecting these perceptions.
Fear-arousing walking interviews were employed to collect data which were analysed using framework analysis. The interviews were conducted with a rather young (age<40), gender-balanced and international sample of visitors in Munich, Germany, which served as a model city.
The visitors almost unanimously report no fear of terrorism while visiting Munich's city centre. Yet, they acknowledge that the possibility for a terrorist incident exists.
The main location-related factor affecting the perception of the risk of terrorism is the amount of people present. Consequently, differences exist within visitors' perceptions across various sites as the main city square, shopping streets and transportation hubs are perceived more terrorism-prone than, for instance, religious sites.
Importantly, visible antiterrorism measures are perceived by many visitors rather positively. Since visitors are accepting the measures even without reported fear of terrorism, this finding bears important implications for policy makers.