The terrorist scare in early August this year, where an alleged plot to blow up 10 US-bound aircraft travelling from the UK was foiled, saw resurfacing concerns around airport security and travel safety on a global scale.
News of this particular incident overseas, which resulted in airport closures, grounded aircraft and elevated security threat levels, was quickly blasted out on Australian television and radio channels, along with all sorts of travel warnings.
These broadcasts were soon followed by reports that airfares would rise to compensate for the costs that increased security at Australian airports would impose.
As for travelling overseas, there is no doubt that some people’s confidence levels are dwindling, as was the case in the aftermath of similar terrorist incidents, such as September 11, 2001, the Bali bombings in 2002, and the London Underground bombings of mid-2005.
According to a poll posted on Ninemsn’s news website which asked site visitors on Friday, August 11, if the foiled terror attack will stop them from flying, 69,649 (or 78 per cent) said no, it wouldn’t. However, 19,200 (22 per cent) said the attack would stop them from flying.
While this might have been a knee-jerk reaction, the fact remains that a handful of Australians have decided that avoiding air travel, if only temporarily, is a smart idea. This attitude, paired with the increase in airfares, tightened security measured and the ongoing threat of terrorist activity, has seen questions raised around the future success and development of Australia’s conference and incentive industry.
What effect, if any, will repeated terrorist threats overseas have on the industry? As Australia’s shores have yet to be targeted directly, there are mixed feelings around the relevance of terrorism as a concern for the industry.
CEO of Meetings & Events Australia (MEA), Linda Gaunt said that if people continue to avoid air travel post-terrorism, she believes the business events industry will take a knock – particularly where attracting international conferences is concerned.
“It’s been proven that people consider the necessity to take air travel overseas due to a fear of terrorism, plus the `inconvenience’ of added security at airports,” Ms Gaunt said.
“When conference destinations are discussed at company level, I’ve no doubt that consideration is given to the safety of travel to the destination. Hence this reticence to travel will impact upon inbound travel. Given that there could be fewer international conferences, this will also affect venues, meeting manager companies and so on.
“One opportunity to come from this threat could be that our Australian travellers to overseas conferences may stay put, which could generate more local conferences. However, I don’t think this will be to the extent that it will offset the loss of inbound travellers.”
In fact, director of Group Event Travel, David Gool recently had a group planning to travel out of LA on a Carnival ship, but as a direct consequence of the August terror scare they decided to cancel the overseas tour and diverted their budget to an Australian domestic program instead.
But aside from keeping some conferences inbound, Mr Gool isn’t convinced that terrorism overseas will have any great effect on the industry here.
Roslyn McLeod, founder and managing director of Tour Hosts said while she appreciates that terrorism is a reality and there should be security in place to combat future problems, she would rather see the country’s attentions being focused on the more immediate issues facing Australians.
“I’m a frequent traveller, and I don’t wish terrorism to happen anywhere in Australia, but it concerns me that the billions of dollars that are going into security checks at airports are being diverted from things like health and education,” Ms McLeod said.
“And who’s paying for all that security? I’d feel much better if the investment was preventing Australians from smoking or suffering from obesity, saving tens of thousands of people each year.”
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