Some Terrorism Basics
| Crime | Terrorism | |
| Goal | Usually economic or social gain | To gain publicity and sometimes sympathy for a cause. |
| Usual type of victim | Person may be known to the perpetrator or selected because he/she may yield economic gain | Killing is a random act and appears to be more in line with a stochastic model. Numbers may or may not be important |
| Defenses in use | Often reactive, reports taken | Some pro-active devices such as radar detectors |
| Political ideology | Usually none | Robin Hood model |
| Publicity | Usually local and rarely makes the international news | Almost always is broadcast around the world |
| Most common forms in tourism industry are: | Crimes of distraction Robbery Sexual Assault | Domestic terrorism International terrorism Bombings Potential for biochemical warfare |
| Statistical accuracy | Often very low, in many cases the travel and tourism industry does everything possible to hide the information | Almost impossible to hide. Numbers are reported with great accuracy and repeated often |
| Length of negative effects on the local tourism industry | In most cases, it is short term | In most cases, it is long term unless replaced by new positive image |
| Recovery strategies | • New marketing plans, assumes short-term memory of traveling public. • Probability ideals: “Odds are it will not happen to you.” • Hide information as best as one can | Showing of compassion • Need to admit the situation and Demonstrate control • Higher levels of observed security • Highly trained (in tourism, terrorism, and customer service) security personnel |