Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic represents the main threat constraining travel in the current times (Gössling, Scott, and Hall 2021). There are, however, other omnipresent threats jeopardising tourism, amongst which belongs also terrorism.
Indeed, as with tourism, terrorism will not be eradicated by the pandemic, quite the contrary (Kruglanski et al. 2020; Marone 2021). Therefore, to understand tourists' views on and reactions to terrorism should be an important endeavour of post-covid tourism research and crucial knowledge for the tourism industry.
It is well established that terrorism has in most instances substantial and adverse effects on tourism demand (Krajňák 2020; Sönmez 1998; Schmude, Karl, and Weber 2020; Fourie, Rosselló-Nadal, and Santana-Gallego 2020). This can be attributed to psychological effects terrorism produces (Adeloye and Brown 2018; Morakabati and Kapuściński 2016; Isaac 2020; Brun, Wolff, and Larsen 2011; Larsen et al. 2011; Sönmez and Graefe 1998; Ekeberg, Fauske, and Berg-Hansen 2014).
To date, nevertheless, we know very little about on-site tourists' psychological responses to terrorism and micro-destination-related factors including antiterrorism measures affecting these responses. Qualitative methods may aid in delivering relevant findings about these issues.
Apart from descriptive case studies, however, the effects of terrorism on tourism have been mainly studied from a quantitative-research perspective. This contribution aims to overcome these under-researched topics in the terrorism-tourism nexus.
Specifically, the aim of the study is to evaluate urban tourists' cognitive and emotional responses to terrorism while focusing on factors affecting these responses. Fear-arousing walking interviews were employed to collect data which were analysed using framework analysis.
The interviews (n=24) were conducted with a rather young (age<40), gender-balanced, and an international sample of tourists in the city centre of Munich, Germany, which served as a model destination. The predefined route along several tourist sites, which may be considered potential terrorist targets, was used for all interviews.
The findings show many participants self-reported the absence of fear of terrorism. However, all participants judged a terrorist attack to be possible within the city centre.
The perceived probability of an attack, nonetheless, varied among participants and sites. The probability was considered to be the highest on sites such as the main city square, shopping street, and train station.
In contrast, religious places such as the Jewish centre and Munich Cathedral, and a small street next to police HQ were rated as sites with the lowest probability. The differences may be explained by micro-destination-related factors affecting psychological responses to terrorism.
A total of 12 factors were identified within the data. The amount of people and visible security measures seems to represent the most important factors since they affected the psychological responses (both cognitive and emotional) of all participants.
Additionally, other factors such as the way how terrorism is comprehended by individual participants were observed to also have substantial effects on their psychological responses to terrorism in Munich's city centre. Theoretical and managerial implications will be discussed.