Essay Undergraduate 2,790 words

Tourism in Unsafe Destinations: Risk, Perception & Strategy

~14 min read 6 sections Business · Risk

Abstract

This paper examines the dynamics of international tourism in countries widely perceived as unsafe, including Mexico, South Africa, and Brazil. Drawing on academic research and tourism data, it explores how tourists form risk perceptions through media, personal networks, and direct experience, and why millions of visitors continue to travel to these destinations despite security concerns. The paper identifies diversity of attractions and robust tourism infrastructure as key draws, and analyzes how geographic variation in security within a country shapes tourist behavior. It concludes by outlining strategies—including secure tourist zones, early-adopter social media campaigns, public relations, and destination differentiation—that governments and tourism boards can employ to counter negative publicity and grow visitor numbers.

Key Takeaways

Introduction: Popular tourism paradox in unsafe countries
Perception of Risk: How media and networks shape risk views
The Draw: Attractions and infrastructure as tourist pull factors
Risk? What Risk?: Within-country security variation and tourist behavior
Dealing with Risk: Government strategies to counter negative perceptions
Conclusions: Synthesis and call for proactive publicity campaigns

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What makes this paper effective

Grounds abstract arguments in concrete, well-known examples—Mexico, South Africa, Brazil, Bali—making the analysis immediately relatable and easy to follow.
Balances academic citations (Sonmez, Papatheodorou, Lepp & Gibson, Kozak et al.) with real-world data from the World Bank, lending both scholarly credibility and empirical weight.
Moves logically from diagnosis (why risk perceptions form) to description (what draws tourists anyway) to prescription (what governments should do), giving the paper a clear practical payoff.

Key academic technique demonstrated

The paper demonstrates effective synthesis of multiple disciplinary sources—geography, tourism management, marketing, and political science—to build a single coherent argument. Rather than summarizing each source in isolation, the author weaves citations into a running analytical narrative, using each reference to advance the next point in the chain of reasoning.

Structure breakdown

The paper is organized into six sections. The introduction establishes the paradox of popular tourism in unsafe countries. "Perception of Risk" examines how media, personal experience, and trusted networks shape traveler attitudes. "The Draw" identifies attractions and infrastructure as key pull factors. "Risk? What Risk?" analyzes how within-country security variation shapes tourist decisions and highlights risk-averse behavior. "Dealing with Risk" offers actionable strategies for governments and tourism boards. The conclusion synthesizes findings and reiterates the need for proactive, positive publicity campaigns.

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Essay 2,790 words

Introduction

The U.S. State Department issues travel warnings for the world's different countries and territories. For Mexico, these warnings are rather comprehensive, providing not just a state-by-state breakdown of the security situation but in some cases a town-by-town one. In some cases, specific routes are prescribed: "U.S. government personnel are authorized to use Federal toll road 15D for travel to Mexico City; however, they may not stop in the town of La Barca for any reason" (State Department, 2015). Even laypeople, when told that someone is going to Mexico, often get a look of concern on their faces and feel obliged to warn that it is not safe. Yet Mexico ranks 15th in the world in international overnight visitors, with 24.1 million per year, according to the World Bank (2014). Mexico is, in fact, one of the world's most popular tourism destinations. It is not the only country with a poor security reputation to attract tourists: Russia ranks 5th in the world, and South Africa attracts between 9 and 10 million tourists per year.

So what drives people to visit countries that are widely believed to be unsafe? There are several factors, which will be explored in this paper. In some cases, the security situation is highly dependent on location — the parts of these countries where tourists go are considered to be much safer than other parts. In other cases, the attractions are simply too great to deter visitors. Mexico is full of UNESCO World Heritage Sites and beach resorts; South Africa is one of the most beautiful countries in the world; and even otherwise dangerous cities like New Orleans can draw visitors with their exceptionally rich culture. The second issue addressed in this paper is what tourism boards and governments can do to attract visitors to areas that are perceived as unsafe. Approaches with respect to both security and marketing are discussed in that section.

Perception of Risk

Media plays a significant role in the perception of risk, though it is usually relaying an element of truth. There really are parts of Mexico where one should not go. There really is a high level of crime in South Africa. Perception, in that sense, usually does mirror reality. But there are mitigating factors. Familiarity is one such factor. Most people know about their own countries and neighboring ones, but the further one gets from home, the less likely one is to know anything beyond the headlines with regard to risk. This is why some people caution against going to Mexico — they simply have a low level of understanding of the actual risks involved. South Africa, far away from its target markets, must actively combat media coverage portraying the country as unsafe in order to attract tourists (Ferreira & Harmse, 2000).

The experiences of friends and family also play a role in the perception of risk, as do one's own past experiences. Someone who has been traveling to Mexico for years will not perceive risk the same way as someone who has never been. Similarly, people close to a traveler may become important sources of information, filling in gaps left by media coverage. They can convey, for example, that even though Honduras has the world's highest murder rates, the island of Roatan is isolated from that violence and therefore very safe.

Tourists thus perceive a destination as unstable and dangerous when (a) it genuinely is, and (b) when their information sources portray it as such. Roughly in order of importance, sources of information include one's own experiences, the experiences of trusted individuals, the media, and marketing. Tourism board marketing is rightly seen as one-sided and prone to downplaying risks, making it the least trusted. The media, by contrast, is trusted by many people who have no other information sources about most destinations. It is therefore imperative for destinations with a negative perception to counter the effects of negative press in order to increase their attractiveness to tourists by reducing the perception of risk. Mexico benefits from many past visitors who can vouch for it; Colombia, on the other hand, needs to use the media to help shift public perceptions.

The Draw

There are many reasons that people engage in leisure travel. Each destination is distinct in its characteristics and in terms of the target markets it attracts. Ukraine is one of the top destinations in the world largely because of traffic from Russian tourists; likewise, Malaysia is a popular destination for Singaporeans and travelers from Muslim-majority countries. Among the more dangerous destinations on the World Bank's list of most-visited places, diversity of attractions is one of the key distinguishing traits. South Africa offers safaris, world-famous cities, wine regions, and stunning scenery. Mexico combines urban escapes, rich culture, ancient ruins, and beaches. Brazil is also considered dangerous, yet it too offers a rich urban environment, nature in the Amazon, beaches, and vibrant culture. The most popular destinations in the world — France, the United States, Spain, China — also possess a wide variety of draws, but their relative safety allows them to attract far more tourists than countries with reputations for danger.

Papatheodorou (2001) notes that most tourists also have pragmatic considerations. They look for places that are easy to reach, that have ample tourism infrastructure, and often they weigh cost as well. This is why so much tourism is domestic in nature. The nations at the top of tourism rankings are generally well-connected and possess a high level of tourism infrastructure — and the same holds for the most-visited "dangerous" places. Mexico, South Africa, and Brazil are all large countries with multiple tourism centers, which allows them to have sufficient infrastructure to host millions of visitors. Arguably, many genuinely dangerous places lack the infrastructure to host large numbers of tourists, in part because persistent security problems are often inimical to economic development.

Mexico is the most popular "dangerous" destination. It has multiple international points of entry, allowing each to focus on specific target markets. Baja caters to Californians, Huatulco has been developed almost exclusively for Canadians, and Cozumel has built its identity around the cruise ship trade. Infrastructure is strong in many areas, particularly in Mexico's major tourism centers. South Africa has a high density of accommodation around Kruger National Park and in Cape Town, its two most popular destinations. In Brazil, both Rio de Janeiro and Foz do Iguaçu have high densities of hotels catering to foreign tourists, and other areas benefit from infrastructure originally built for domestic tourism. Attractions and infrastructure are thus both essential. When these areas are compared with nearby countries with similar natural appeal but lower levels of infrastructure, the role that infrastructure plays becomes clear. Guatemala has attractions comparable to those of the Yucatán, but draws far fewer visitors. Other African countries offer big-game safaris, but nations like Kenya and Tanzania attract only a fraction of South Africa's visitors.

3 Sections Hidden · 1,070 words

Risk? What Risk?290 words

The role that risk plays in selecting a destination appears to be quite significant. As Sonmez (1998) notes, when there is a direct threat to…

Dealing with Risk490 words

The first and most direct thing governments can do to reduce perceptions of instability is, unsurprisingly, to increase actual stability and security. Creating the infrastructure necessary to host growing numbers of tourists depends…

Conclusions290 words

Consumers form their impressions about travel risk from their friends, the media, and yes, from reality. Many places perceived as unsafe actually are. The media contributes to…

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References

AP (2012). 10 years after Bali bombing, victims remembered as tourists flood into popular resort island. Fox News. Retrieved April 25, 2015 from

Ferreira, S. & Harmse, A. (2000). Crime and tourism in South Africa: International tourists' perception and risk. South African Geography Journal, 82(2), 80–85.

Kozak, M., Crotts, J. & Law, R. (2007). The impact of the perception of risk on international travellers. Tourism Research, 9(4), 233–242.

Lepp, A. & Gibson, H. (2008). Sensation seeking and tourism: Tourist role, perception of risk and destination choice. Tourism Management, 29(4), 740–750.

Papatheodorou, A. (2001). Why people travel to different places. Annals of Tourism Research, 28(1), 164–179.

Sonmez, S. (1998). Tourism, terrorism, and political instability. Annals of Tourism Research, 25(2), 416–456.

U.S. State Department (2015). Mexico travel warning. U.S. Department of State. Retrieved April 25, 2015 from http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/alertswarnings/mexico-travel-warning.html

World Bank (2014). International tourism, number of arrivals. World Bank. Retrieved April 25, 2015 from http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/ST.INT.ARVL

Key Concepts in This Paper

Risk Perception Destination Marketing Tourism Infrastructure Media Influence Tourist Safety Zones Early Adopters Destination Differentiation Travel Warnings Pull Factors Public Relations