'Too much security' is taking the pleasure out of travel â Maple
- MICEBTN archive stories issue 27
- Friday, 09 February 2007
THE HEAD of a major world organisation in the MICE industry has warned that the “near obsession” with national security in some areas is threatening to thwart a return to normalcy in international relations and commerce.
Barbara Maple, president of the International Association of Congress Centres said there was no question that security needed to have an appropriate amount of attention — but when it became more important than facilitating global interaction, it could become self-defeating.
“If people don’t have the opportunity to travel and experience different cultures and experiences, they will never develop the kind of ‘world view’ that makes for long-term global stability — and excessive security measures, including the selective exclusion of national and cultural groups from various parts of the world, can do just that,” she said.
This, according to Maple, was one of two negatives that were working against continued growth in global travel and economic development.
The second, she said, was the overall deterioration of the travel experience.
“A combination of airport security, crowded flights and facilities and service reductions has created a situation where travel simply isn’t the experience it used to be,” she declared.
“Each time there is another terror alert, more restrictions and embargos are created — and while these may be logical and defensible, they still reduce the pleasure most of us used to associate with travel and make us less enthusiastic about a trip.”
And Maple went on: “The trouble is we rely for our future on people’s continuing desire and interest in travelling. If travel ceases to be a benefit and becomes instead a trial, we will be the first to feel the impacts.”
On the positive side, Maple said that along with economic stability, business had grown in the conventions and exhibitions areas. “With a few exceptions, recent studies have shown significant increases in both attendance and space utilisation over the past year, and there is also growing evidence of new events being created. This has resulted in a sense of optimism, with facility managers overwhelmingly saying that they expect further improvements in business as opposed to declines,” she added.
