The impact of the 2016 terrorist attacks in Brussels on tourism

Abstract

Scientists as well as the general public remember the terrorist attacks that took place in Brussels in March 2016. This was not a stand-alone event since other places were hit previously. This changes people’s perception of places – in tourism terms, destinations - and may affect tourists’ behavior.In this paper, we explore the effects on two levels. First we compare, for 2015 and 2016, the month-by-month evolution of the number of (international) arrivals, overnight stays and hotels’ occupancy rates which tend to respond very quickly, affected by tourists staying away. It is much more difficult to detect changes of feelings and attitude among tourists. We explored the latter via a survey in Brussels and also in Antwerp and Bruges as a kind of benchmark.The results represent bad and good news for the tourism industry in Brussels and Belgium and for Brussels/Belgium as a destination. The bad news is that terrorist attacks did not pass unnoticed. On the contrary, they had an effect on the visitors’ behavior in terms of arrivals and overnight stays (with effects on e.g. hotel occupancy) for several months. We see that the effects are felt far beyond the place that suffered from the attack(s), particularly if this place is a brand for the region or for the country. The good news is that tourists, after ca. six months, seem to feel safe again. Therefore, our results are in line with the international literature but our attention is drawn towards the fact that some did adapt their behavior by self-moderation and by avoiding certain places from a safety perspective as well as differences among countries of origin.

Keywords

• tourism
• terrorist attacks
• Brussels
• safety
• quantitative effects
• qualitative effects