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Intercontinental Hotels And The Hilton Hotels Group Experienced 5-10% Decline ...

Intercontinental Hotels and the Hilton hotels group experienced 5-10% decline in occupancy rates immediately after the terrorist attack; in order to preserve their clients in future, Hilton, Starwood and Marriott allowed them to cancel their reservations without any penalty. As a result, these famous hotels had to decrease their prices and reduce salaries of their workers, attempting to preserve a stable position in severe conditions. But these are temporary measures that will be gradually eliminated in the due time. Tourist companies also initiate advertising campaigns to persuade tourists that it is completely safe to visit Great Britain. No doubt, such measures will certainly decrease the annual income of all these travel and tourist industries. Fortesque company lost income in the first day of the tragedy when 2,400 visitors cancelled their reservations; the same loss of income occurred in Thorns Group and Create Food immediately after the attacks.

The BRC (British Retail Consortium) has evaluated that London's stores lost 26 million pounds because of the recent terrorist acts. The Tate Museum, Covent Garden, Curzon Cinemas, the Royal Haymarket theatre and other popular tourist places in London have revealed 30%-40% decline in tourists after the July 7, 2005. Shakespeare's Globe Theatre had to cancel the play on July 7, loosing 40,000 pounds, and Visit London pointed at 20% decline in the attendance of the capital's playhouses. Overall, Visit London considers that the terrorist attack has influenced all spheres of tourism throughout Great Britain. In view of these data, even the general decline in 2% of British tourism will be tangible in the areas of travelling, employment and consumer spending. However, specialists forecast the decline only on a short-term basis, suggesting that the British tourist industry will renew its previous position by the end of 2007 the beginning of 2008.
Putting questions to people of various age groups, the researchers of the Independent survey have identified some factors that are crucial for individuals in their planning of holidays and business trips (See Appendix 2 for the Questionnaire). On the basis of the received answers, it is clear that, above all, people of different ages value safety in travelling and, thus, they prefer to avoid the places with high risk of terrorism or crimes. Actually, tourists amount the safety rate to 9-10 on the ten-point scale in regard to the places of living (e.g. hotels) and transportation during their travelling (Mawby, Brund, & Hambly, 2000). As the Questionnaire reveals, in the case of a terrorist attack, a tourist prefers to choose other similar places without the risk of terrorism or violence. According to Richter and Waugh (1986), even if the tourist areas are secure tourism may decline precipitously when political conditions appear unsettled. Tourists simply choose alternative destinations (p.231).

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