By eTurboNews
Published April 30, 2013
Regions affected by terror should be helped with travel and tourism instead of putting out advisories against visiting them.
Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group and President of Virgin Atlantic, says on his blog, “Help people when they are most in need of support.”
Travel advisories stopping people visiting countries due to terrorist attacks should be banned. The reason for this is that they are exactly what the terrorists want.
Terrorists carried out a kidnapping in Kenya – and the US Department of State, by including the word “warning†in their travel advisory, has effectively negated all insurance, devastating industries from tourism to film (and even contributed to making it uneconomical for Virgin Atlantic to continue flying there).
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Virgin Atlantic discontinued its flights to Nairobi on September 23, 20012 after five years of operation into the eastern African metropolis. At the time, Sir Richard blamed the decision on “A combination of record fuel prices, higher and higher taxes imposed by the Government and a poorly timed slot not providing connections from London.”
The Dail Mail of London reports that “Branson had threatened to stop Virgin Atlantic’s service [to Nairobi] in 2008 during a period of civil unrest, but flights continued for another four years.”
Anyone considering a trip to Egypt who consults the Foreign Office Facebook page is told: “There is a high threat from terrorism. Although security is tight, especially in resort areas, there remains a high risk of attacks which could be indiscriminate, including in public places frequented by foreigners.†Yet during all the upheavals of the past two years, tourists have been virtually unaffected.Terrorists put bombs in a Bali nightclub – then for the next 10 years Bali’s economy has been ruined because travel advisories stop tourists from travelling there. Australians, who comprise the most important market for this corner of South-east Asia, are urged to “exercise a high degree of caution in Indonesia, including Bali, at this time due to the high threat of terrorist attackâ€.
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Conversely, if a terrorist attack happens in the US or the UK, governments and people show 100 per cent support and sympathy – as they rightly should. After 9/11, we immediately sent a plane of people over to help, and made an extra special effort to encourage people to travel to New York. After 7/7, visitors to London continued to flock in.”
An eTurboNews article
