Politics and Tourism

I’ve visited a few countries with US issued travel warnings, and have been pleasantly surprised with the hospitality and safety I felt in all. Only last night after an article’s insightful comment, did I really think about how tourism policies are used by countries to reward or punish other countries.

Travel warnings can greatly diminish tourism to a country. Less tourism means less foreign money flowing in. For countries that are poor or that rely heavily on tourism, a warning can be economically devastating. In this way, travel warnings and other state-issued information are huge tools of influence that don’t necessarily have much to do with actual travel.

Yesterday, I read an article discussing Sri Lanka’s tourism prospects. The author mentioned the need for Sri Lanka to lobby and reconcile with Western nations in order to be on more favorable terms, to do away with any travel warnings. In other words, travel warnings that are no longer applicable continue to exist only because of hard feelings over past issues unrelated to current travel. Many travel warnings exist out of extreme caution beyond what is necessary.

On your next big vacation or travels, give the warnings a good look for background information, but also take into account anecdotal evidence from travelers who are there right now, read articles or discussions about the current situation, and continue to research to draw your own conclusions. You might be denying yourself some amazing experiences by avoiding places with travel warnings. By doing so, you might also unwittingly be doing a government’s political punishment for something completely unrelated.