Political Violence and Its Consequences for Tourism in Israel
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Political Violence and its Consequences for Tourism in Israel Bachelor Thesis for Obtaining the Degree Bachelor of Business Administration Tourism and Hospitality Management Submitted to Mag. Karin Glaser Nina Nawara 0811553 Vienna 06 April 2011 Declaration of Authorship I declare that this dissertation is my own unaided worK. I have not included any material or data from other authors or sources, which are not acKnowledged and identified in the prescribed manner. I have read the section in the exam regulations on plagiarism and understand that such offences may lead the Examinations Board to withhold or withdraw the award of Bachelor of Business Administration. Date Signature 2 Abstract Within this thesis the researcher wants to find out how Israel is influenced by political violence and what Kind of consequences this threat brings to the tourism industry of the state. The definition of terrorism will be clarified and additionally its different effects on tourism. Additionally to a short introduction to the history of Israel the different terror organizations that represent a threat to the state will be verified. The political issues that Israel's destination management has to deal with will be analyzed as well as the city branding of Israel. Furthermore the researcher will focus on Counter Terrorism tactics of the state's own government and correlate local tourism to individual target groups. It is of interest to the researcher which target groups are mostly deterred by terrorist attacKs. 3 Acknowledgements I would like to show my gratitude to my supervising teacher Mag. Karin Glaser whose guidance and support from the initial to the final level enabled me to realize my ideas and concept. Also, I am grateful to all friends and family members who supported me during the development of this research paper. 4 Table of Contents Declaration of Authorship 2 1 Introduction 7 2 Facts about Israel 10 2.1 Israel Demographics 10 2.2 Tourism in Israel 11 2.3 Market Profile and Demand 13 3 Israel – Then and Now 14 3.1 Zionism and Independence of State 14 3.2 Conflicts & Wars 16 3.3 The Second Intifada 17 3.4 Conflicts after the Second Intifada 20 4 Political Violence and its Consequences 21 4.1 Overcoming Terrorism 23 4.2 Consequences of Terrorism for Tourism in Israel 24 4.2.1 The Arab-Israeli Conflict and Tourism 28 4.2.2 Changes in Demand 29 5 Destination Management and Crisis Management 33 5.1 City Branding 33 5.2 Freedom and Tourism 35 6 Conclusion 37 7 Bibliography 39 5 List of Tables and Figures Chart 1: Terrorist AttacK Rate in West BanK and Gaza Strip 1996 – 2002 26 Chart 2: Terrorist AttacK Rate in West Bank and Gaza Strip 2002 – 2007 27 Diagram 1: Israel Tourism Statistics and Estimates 30 6 1 Introduction The Middle East Conflict is and has been for decades the most critical war situation in the world. Two peoples are fighting for their rights, both for good reasons and their natural right of a homeland. The states surrounding Israel have fought with and for either Palestinians or Israeli. Israel as the “Holy Land” of the three world religions Judaism, Christianity and Islam and its geographical location inbetween Africa and Asia gives the small state big importance. Balke (2009: 134) defines the state of Israel as an immigration country with the raison d'etre of the right of every jew in the world to obtain Israeli citizenship. LooKing bacK history proves that Israeli people have suffered from indescribable human crimes during the holocaust and the few survivors were not only homeless but stateless. Over the years the state was confronted with numerous hostilities and albeit there have been tragic conflicts between Israel and other Middle Eastern states, it is the conflict between Israeli and Palestinians that represents the most pervading enmity. Israeli and Palestinian people do not live in peace next to another but even today constantly have to fear attacKs. By fact that this cultural conflict also manifests itself in terrorist attacKs, it is of great interest to the researcher to give a definition of “terrorism” and the consequences on tourism in Israel that these acts of violence entail. Terrorism is presented as the biggest public threat in the media these times but how and why do terrorists attacK? When do tourists become legitimate targets in the eyes of terrorists? As tourism is a critical source of revenue generation and in the case of Israel also strongly bonds with religion the researcher would like to find out what happens when negative conditions exist, such as political violence. How does the tenuous situation within Israel influence local tourism? For this purpose it would be effective to give a short and comprehensive overview of the political history of Israel but mainly focus on current events. Since Israel attracts religious tourists that are in search of biblical sights and furthermore those people of Jewish bacKground who want to visit their families the probable outcome of the research will be that Jewish tourists might not be as deterred by political violence as leisure tourists. 7 This bachelor thesis will include secondary data which will be collected by the researcher. Journals, newspaper articles and literature will be used as a foundation for the research and with the conducted information the research Questions will be answered and the hypothesis will be declared as either true or false. With the help of graphs the reduction of Israeli tourism after terror attacKs will be exemplified. The first theme that will be examined is the country profile of Israel, exemplifying Israel Demographics, MarKet Profile and Tourism in Israel. It is of special interest what Kind of tourism Israel offers and which target groups are attracted to the various choices. In the third chapter “Israel – Then and Now” the researcher will illustrate the history of Israel, from the beginnings of the state and the formation of Zionism to the different conflicts the young state had yet to face. The researcher will place an emphasis on the consequences the Second Intifada entailed and additionally Arab terrorist movements will be explained in detail. The fourth chapter, namely “Political Violence and its Consequences”, will include a definition of terrorism and exemplify its effects on the economy in Israel. The question which economic industries are mostly damaged by media coverage of terrorism will be answered. Furthermore a line will be drawn from overcoming terrorism to the conseQuences of terrorism for tourism in Israel. Within this chapter the research question will be answered and the employed hypothesis will be tested. After the determination that terrorism certainly does have an effect on local tourism the researcher will elaborate on the intercultural challenge of Arab-Israeli tourism. The theory will emerge that even after years of conflicts between the two cultures there is a need for exchange and an interest for the respective other. To conclude this main chapter, changes in demand of Israel tourism will be explained with the help of statistics. Within “Destination Management and Crisis Management”, which represents the fifth chapter of this research paper, City Branding of Israel will be examined and 8 thereby marketing strategies to work against terrorism associations will be exemplified. Before coming to a conclusion the subchapter of “Freedom and Tourism” will contain a philosophical approach to tourism. The researcher will focus on the definition of travelling in times of globalization and the need for an intercultural communication. Concluding this research paper the main themes will be revised, the research question answered and the hypothesis declared as either true or false. The conclusion will additionally contain subjective thoughts of the researcher and the need for an acceptance between cultures will be explicated. 9 2 Facts about Israel The state of Israel, located in between Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Egypt and the Gaza Strip, is a country that entangles traditions, history and political conflicts all at once. It is Known for not only beautiful landscapes and interesting biblical artefacts but unfortunately also for decades of intercultural conflicts. Only the American state of Washington and the Russian Moscow have more accredited journalists on-site than Israel (Balke 2009). The precarious political situation is the reason why Israel constantly finds itself in the eyes of the media but in this respect it is oftentimes also to the country’s mischief. Nevertheless, the state is a melting pot for different cultures and has much to offer for its visitors. 2.1 Israel Demographics According to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (2011) the state population consisting of approximately 7684000 inhabitants is subdivided into 75,4% of Jewish decent and 20,4% of Arab decent. The remaining 4,3% are represented by so-called „Others“ who are either not registered Jews, non-Arab Christian, non-Arab Muslims or inhabitants that are not religiously classified. As stated on the website of the Jewish Federation of the North Shore, Israel is the “largest immigrant-absorbing nation in the world” whereby “immigrants come in search of democracy, religious freedom and economic opportunity” (JFNS 2011). The official Israel Tourism Website (2005) states that Jewish residents are divided into religious and secular inhabitants whereas the Arab community consists of Moslems, Christians and Druze. The website furthermore describes Israel as a rapidly growing state, especially due to a high immigration rate of Jews from all over the world. The median age is 28,3 years, which means that Israeli population is very young, but the life expectancy with 78,7 years is doubtlessly Quite high. Additionally it is indicated that the majority of Israeli population are native-born Israelis with a percentage of 65% (Israel Tourism Website 2005).