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AMERICANS NO LONGER TRAVEL IN TERROR
By Claire Semder
POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y., Dec. 6 --- Even though the U.S. threat alert remains at orange, indicating a high risk of possible terrorist attacks, American travelers remain unfazed when making travel arrangements.
Although this appears counterintuitive, Brandon Hallock, a travel agent at the Student Travel Agency (STA) in Berkeley, Calif., said that recently his clients have barely asked about or mentioned the idea of a terrorist attack when planning their travels.
“People are traveling to every corner of the world,” he said. “I have not heard any concerns about terror alerts recently. Periodically it comes up, but this is because we are at war and the world is changing.”
In contrast, the U.S. Government repeatedly reports that Americans continue to be a target both domestically and abroad. According to the Department of Homeland Security’s Web site, the national threat level is “elevated,” or yellow, meaning there is a significant risk of terrorist attacks. However, the threat level for the airline sector, which covers both international and national flights, is “high,” or orange, stating that a high risk of terrorist attacks exists.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Web site additionally states, “While there continues to be no credible information at this time warning of an imminent threat to the homeland, the department's strategic threat perspective is that we are in a period of increased risk.”
Due to the fact that no credible information has surfaced at this time to warrant a heightened terror alert, American travelers appear more at ease when flying abroad than they did immediately after 9/11 or at the start of the Iraq war in 2003, according to Hallock.
Security at airports before 9/11 is a “glaring contrast” to what it is today, according to Laura Kutner, a social worker at Child Protective Services who lived in Spain for a year during the 2004 bombings in Madrid.
“The summer after my sophomore year of college [2001] I stayed in D.C. to work. [My sister] Brigid stayed to visit with me, and at the end I brought her to the airport. I walked right up to the gate with her actually, and put her on a plane with a ticket with my name on it. Delta and USAir used to sell books of one-way tickets to and from D.C. and New York, and you could buy like eight at a time pretty cheap,” she said. “So I just used one of those to check in, and then let Brigid walk through the gate instead of me.
“How crazy is that? Basically, anyone could've walked on the plane in my name then if I had let them. Wild, absolutely wild,” she added.
Security measures since the attacks on 9/11, however, have only continued to grow in rigidity. In recent years, some additions have been the checking of passengers’ shoes and the prohibiting of any liquid container larger than three ounces to be in carry-on luggage. However, individuals like Kutner feel these precautions are necessary.
“Overall, I feel safe,” she said. “However, I do not think that they should relax any security measures. I think it is smart that, as a country, we are guarding ourselves more carefully now. It makes me sad that we have to do it, but I think we got a hard and terrible wake-up call that we are not untouchable and do not live in a little invincible bubble. It's awful, but it's real, and if it has to be like this for the time being, then I am glad our country is keeping us safe.”
Others become agitated by the security checkpoints. Allison McCullough, a senior journalism and radio/television/film major at Marist College, said she felt this way while traveling abroad for the first time to London last spring.
“I feel like the precautions taken, although extensive, are somewhat tedious, time-consuming and ineffective,” she said. “If someone wanted to smuggle some sort of makeshift weapon onto a plane, I don't believe the security checks in place would necessarily stop them. Also, I feel some of the checks you must go through in the United States, like taking off your shoes, do not appear to be beneficial. If they are, I, as a traveler, feel uninformed as to the efficiency of such precautions.”
Six years after 9/11, Americans’ fears of terrorist attacks have diminished. James Marconi, a junior journalism major, will be traveling to Italy in January 2008 to study abroad as part of the Marist Abroad Program. He said he does not have any concrete concerns about the terror alerts.
“I know that they raise the alert whenever various intelligence agencies receive information about planned terror attacks, general unrest in foreign countries and things of that nature,” he said. “I also know that it makes traveling by air a royal pain… I'm really not too concerned, other than the inconvenience I'll encounter before boarding.”
During his time working for STA, Hallock also found that, unlike the government’s threat level, concern for flying does not remain in a constant state of elevated threat. Concern from clients only peaks immediately after an event of terror occurs, such as the London bombings in 2007, the Madrid bombings in 2004, or the Turkey terrorist attacks in 2003.
“Concern dissipates after a couple of months,” Hallock said. “Every time there is something else in a headline there is a raise in concern.”
In order to lesson fears and ensure safe travel, Jerald Thornton, a Marist Abroad Program coordinator, said that in preparation for his students’ departure he makes understanding the importance of acting in a safe manner a priority.
“Travelers need to remember that security is taken very seriously at airports, and any act, even if unintentional, that is perceived as a threat will be dealt with quickly and severely,” he said. “Examples of things travelers do that puts them at more risk is not watching your luggage, losing a passport, [or] being the victim of pick-pocketing. All travelers, including students, need to be aware of their surroundings and not let their guard down.”
Thornton said that if the U.S. State Department issues a travel warning for a specific country or region, then the Marist Abroad Program will not sanction student travel to these areas. These warnings are recommendations that Americans avoid travel to specific regions due to safety and security issues, which can include issues from political instability to environmental conditions. Current travel warnings are in effect for countries such as Israel, Iraq, Colombia, and Haiti.
Working for STA, Hallock also said he does not typically send his clients to places of heightened threats, such as Iraq. However, he does have many Persian clients who travel to Iran and backpackers who venture to Colombia and Africa. He said, “People traveling to more dangerous places are doing so for specific reasons, and they know what to expect and how to act properly.”
Hallock was not a travel agent at the time of 9/11 or the start of the Iraq war, but he did travel abroad during this time as a college student and has seen a pattern develop in airport security over the years.
“I think it has improved,” he said. “I also think that it is most difficult going through the United States. I feel as if traveling [in the U.S. airports] is intimidating to passengers. I’ve traveled through Eastern Europe, Australia, Central America…and found them more positive and friendly. In American ones, you feel as if you’ve done something wrong. [U.S. airports] have to work on customer service.”
As an American student studying in London, McCullough said she felt safe at all times. During her travels to France, Holland and Italy she continually felt that the airports in Europe made her feel more relaxed compared to traveling within the United States.
“I felt equally safe in all airports,” she said. “When I was in European airports, I almost felt like I'm just as safe here without all the crazy security as I am at home. So why is it even necessary?”
Hallock, however, said that although his clients, mostly students, do not appear concerned with threat levels or change their travel plans because of them, he does sometimes deal with parents who are concerned with their children traveling abroad during these times.
Linda Pavlick was one of these concerned parents when her daughter traveled to London last spring.
“With the heightened alert, I could not rest until I knew she and her friends had landed,” she said. “While she was in Europe, I especially kept a close watch on the national and international news. I read the paper religiously and would check London news online… The entire time my daughter was traveling abroad, not a second went by that I wasn’t worried for her safety.”
The Marist Abroad staff strives to alleviate any residual fears of its parents and students, and Kristen Alldredge, assistant director of Marist-Lorenzo de'Medici Programs in Italy, said she hopes travel alerts will not hinder future students from studying abroad.
“Honestly, I cannot live in the fear of heightened terror alerts,” she said. “I live abroad in Florence, Italy, and I feel just as safe from terror here as I do in the United States. I feel it is important to get the most of your experience and your personal interactions, and this can only be done in the absence of fear. I hope that terror alerts do not prevent students from studying abroad.”