Ignoring security puts tourism industry in peril, expert says

By Chris Kudialis

Tuesday, April 12, 2016 | 1:26 p.m.

Security experts from across the globe discussed the growing impact of terrorism on tourism as they met today at the Golden Nugget for the annual International Tourism Safety Conference.

“Las Vegas lives by tourism, and we’re constantly looking for the best ideas to make sure Las Vegas stays a safe destination,” said Peter Tarlow, a renowned tourism security scholar, who emceed the event.

Hosts of the 23rd annual conference included Metro Police and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. It drew more than 300 participants from law enforcement and the hotel, security and tourism industries, representing 20 countries, including Switzerland, Cuba, Nepal, Israel and Brazil. The two-day conference concludes Wednesday.

Tarlow is a nationally renowned Texas-based scholar and author whose tourism security projects include working with police for the 2014 World Cup in Rio de Janeiro and the upcoming Olympic Games.

A retired rabbi and professor at Texas A&M, Tarlow said terrorist attacks like the ones in Paris and Brussels, Belgium, have brought back a public fear of traveling not seen since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

Tourism officials who ignore security are placing their industry “in peril,” Tarlow said, as fearful travelers seek destinations where tourism security is “professionalized and well thought through.”

“Tourists just will not go to a place if they don’t feel secure,” he said.

Also speaking today was Melbourne-based Tony Ridley, CEO of Australian think tank Intelligent Travel, which provides online tutorials and videos for international travelers.

Ridley, a retired member of the Australian army, said international travel is “irresistible” to many tourists, as long as they can afford it.

“People travel for the sheer excitement and exhilaration,” he said “It doesn’t matter what we say, people are going to find ways to travel.”

But Americans traveling internationally, especially to Asian and eastern countries, should be sensitive to cultural differences and laws, he said. Ridley mentioned Singapore, where chewing gum and jaywalking result in instant $500 fines.

Charleston, S.C., Police Chief Gregory Mullen talked about the impact of domestic terrorism on tourism.

Mullen, whose city experienced the fatal shooting of nine people at a church last year, said law enforcement must “plan ahead and know how to work together” during times of crisis. The June 17, 2015, shooting didn’t drastically impact tourism, he said.

“At first, a crisis creates an atmosphere of fear and tension,” Mullen said. “But from an image perspective, you have to let tourists know that you have everything under control.”