Tourism, the attention magnet

by Yeoh Siew Hoon

Last week we saw two tourism icons in ways we’d never seen before – images that will forever change the way we look at them and indeed, how they are operated and managed.

September 11 changed the way we looked at airplanes – from flying machines to weapons of mass destruction – and at skyscrapers – from architectural landmarks to sitting targets.

The terror attacks in Mumbai will change the way we look at luxury hotels that are tourism icons in their own right. How many of us, when we saw the Taj Mahal on fire, immediately thought of Raffles Hotel in Singapore, Peninsula in Hong Kong and The Oriental Bangkok.

What could be more symbolic of international tourism than these luxury heritage hotels that attract the rich and famous and those that want to be either or both?

The bomb explosions at the two Marriotts in Jakarta and Islamabad led to new security procedures – the barrier at the driveway, the mirror under the car, the checking of car boots. Deep down we knew these measures wouldn’t stop any determined terrorists, but they reassured us to some extent.

We got used to them, just as we got used to traveling without liquids in our hand carry. We all now know the 10ml rule by heart, although I have to confess I sometimes forget and once, had to leave a bottle of Dom Perignon behind in Beijing airport.

According to reports, the terrorists entered the Taj on foot and from the back. Now that’s a side of the hotel tourists never see and perhaps it’s a side the hotel industry hadn’t paid that much attention to – until now.

Right after the Mumbai attacks I received an SMS from a staff working in a five star hotel, “Do you think hotels will be future targets of terrorists? After all, we get lots of dignitaries and foreigners. Definitely lesser security than airports and embassies. We are paid to smile to anyone who can afford our cup of coffee.”

A real concern that must now be addressed. Yes, one more thing to worry about even as demand slumps and rates and revenues slide.

We’ve also always known how vital airports are to our lives. We take them for granted. Our right to fly out when we want, and to return when we wish. The right to free flow of goods and products as we trade with our partners.

Last week’s events in Bangkok proved that with no airport, no country can function. Thais saw that right of movement taken away from them and scores of travellers, neighbours and trading partners punished as a result.

It’s not only visitors wanting to leave the country, it’s Thais wishing to return and it’s Thais wanting to travel. Some travel companies are shifting their focus to domestic tourism to get them through the dark days ahead – at least they can drive if they can’t fly – but there are reports that one million tourism jobs will be at stake.

But it’s more than tourism that’s taking a hit. It’s trade. It’s the wheels of commerce grinding to a halt.

I was listening to a radio programme on BBC World the other day. The reporter was interviewing former militants in Kashmir, India. She asked. “Why did you start taking up arms?”

Their reply. “It was the only way the world would notice us. That you’d be here talking to us now.”

The bigger the icons, the bigger the attention.

Catch Yeoh Siew Hoon every week at the Transit Cafe – www.thetransitcafe.com