Abstract

In what has been considered the bloodiest attack on American soil after Pearl Harbor, September 11, 2001, represented a turning point for security-related specialists and policy makers throughout the world (Dalby 2003; Hall, Timothy & Duval 2003). This event saw the division of the world into secure and insecure nations. Importantly, this event marked the first time that terrorists employed mass transportation as real weapons against civilian targets (Korstanje & Olsen 2011). Since this event, multiple studies have focused on the effects of terrorism on local economies as well as the global tourism and hospitality industry (Bonham, Edmonds & Mak 2006; Korstanje & Clayton 2012; Pappas 2010; Raine 2013; Saha & Yap 2014; Yan et al. 2016). Although the notion of risk perception underscores models that predict terrorist attacks in leisure hotspots (Floyd et al. 2004; Fuchs et al. 2013; Reisinger & Mavondo 2005), the post-9/11 security dilemma opened the doors to new, unanswered questions. As Bianchi (2006) notes, the excessive public attention on the struggles of tourist destinations to strengthen security has become problematic, as the fear of terrorism, together with more general global anxiety over violence, vulnerability, and uncertainty, has paved the way for a new security climate in which, despite the efforts and material resources to make destinations safer, reinforces the tenets of terrorism.