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576 testimony
willingness to holiday in Northern Ireland, but,
conversely, if the level of incidents declined,
potential tourist attitudes improved.
Even though most of the supply components of
the tourism product are to a large extent within
the control of the destination, if there is any
concern over the security situation, demand for
that destination is at risk. As the Economist
Intelligence Unit �1994: 70) asserted: `International
tourism has shown itself to be susceptible to
concerns over political instability and risks to
personal safety. At its most extreme, outbreaks of
military conflict are able to destroy established
tourism sectors in very short order'. In less extreme
circumstances, adverse publicity or short term
political disruption can wipe out several years of
growth and development in tourism and cause
a destination to lose several more years of trend
growth until either the cause of the disruption is
dealt with or tourists' memories fail them.
Studies of the economic impact of terrorism on
tourism are few, but the estimated effects can be
very substantial �Gamage et al. 1997). Three
categories of the causes of disruption to international
tourism can be identified �Economist Intelligence
Unit 1994): fundamental, long-term
disruption such as has occurred in Lebanon,
Northern Ireland, Sri Lanka, Uganda and the
former Yugoslavia; continuing volatility/uncertainty
in tourism destinations such as in Egypt,
India, Israel, Jamaica, Kenya, Peru, the Philippines
and Turkey; and short-term, single event disruption
such as in China, Fiji, Florida and, due to
occasional terrorist attacks, the UK.
See also: war
References
Buckley, P.J., and Klemm, M. �1993). `The decline
of tourism in Northern Ireland: the causes',
Tourism Management, June: 184±94.
Economist Intelligence Unit �1994) `Occasional
studies: the impact of political unrest and
security concerns on international tourism',
EIU:Travel and Tourism Analyst 2: 69±82.
Gamage, A., Shaw, R.N. and Ihalanayake, R.
�1997) `The cost of political upheaval to inter-
national tourism to Sri Lanka', Asia Pacific Journal
of Travel Research 2�1): 75±87.
Wahab, S. �1996) `Tourism and terrorism: synthesis
of the problem with emphasis on Egypt', in A.
Pizam and Y. Mansfeld �eds), Tourism, Crime and
International Security Issues, Chichester: John Wiley
& Sons, 175±86.
Wall, G. �1996) `Terrorism and tourism: an overview
and an Irish example', in A. Pizam and Y.
Mansfeld �eds), Tourism, Crime and International
Security Issues, Chichester: John Wiley & Sons,
143±58.
Further reading
Ryan, C. �1993) `Crime, violence, terrorism, and
tourism ± an accidental or intrinsic relationship?'
Tourism Management, June: 173±83.
testimony
ROBIN SHAW, AUSTARLIA
Testimony is touristic promotion of a destination
or hotel by recognisable spokespersons �like
Australia and Crocodile Dundee), association with
the rich and �in)famous, and the verbatim accounts
of satisfied customers. Testimonial rhetoric as an
authenticating device can also be found in the
narratives of tour guides. As a type of word of
mouth communication, testimony rates high in
terms of credibility.
Thailand
GRAHAM M.S. DANN, UK
Thailand has a distinctive place in the political
history of Southeast Asia in general and in terms of
the evolution of tourism within the nation.
Thailand was never colonised as its neighbouring
countries were, and thus Thai culture developed
without the discontinuities associated with imperialism
or later independence struggles. However,
Thailand was not immune from the desperate
poverty, urban decay or threats to the environment
that have affected its neighbours. This
country of 61 million is comparable in land area