Terrorism and Travel Attitudes

Posted by Lisa Sabol-Sikorski Oct 7, 2006

Has terrorism affected your attitude towards overseas travel? Most people are concerned about the possibility of terrorist attacks in popular European destinations like Paris, London, Rome, or Madrid, but the coutries of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland haven't been immune to threats. The security services in each country are actively monitoring threats and have made arrests in planned terrorist attacks.

Some in Denmark are worried about being a terrorist target because of the cartoons appearing in the largest Danish newspaper earlier this year poking fun at religion, including Islam. The Norweigan police recently arrested men inOdense, Denmark for allegedly making bombs and planning terorist attacks. Last month, an Oslo man was arrested for firing shots into Oslo's only synagogue and there have been threats against the American and Israeli ambassadors to Norway. According to an October 1 Helsingin Sanomat article,Finland is the only Nordic country without an ongoing terrorist investigation, but it is monitoring people via wiretaps.

In spite of these threats, tourism is thriving. The US State Department's website reports the number of passports issued has increased by 15% from 2004 to 2005, with over 10 million passports being issued last fiscal year. The growing popularity of Baltic cruises bring more visitors to Northern Europe each year. Most people I talk to say that threats of terrorism have not dissuaded them from traveling to Europe. Statistically, of course, most people have a greater chance of dying in a car accident than in a terrorist attack.

There are no absolute right answers. The best thing to do is to just live your life, do what feels right for you, and always be aware of your surroundings. That advice, though, has always been sound, even before September 11, 2001.

What's your opinion? Take our poll and let us know.