Using Causal Mapping to Understand the Terrorism-Tourism Nexus
Abstract (150 Words)
Complexity Theory (CT) has been embraced by physical and social scientists alike to help understand uncertainty and non-linearity. One of the applications of CT is in understanding how organizations adapt to their environments and changing circumstances and how they respond to conditions of uncertainty. In light of the nonlinear and dynamic nature of terrorist networks and their complex structures and public reaction to such crises, CT offers insights into how such complex and dynamic systems function and offers a new set of conceptual tools to help explain terrorism, such as causal mapping. This paper proposes the use of causal mapping to understand global events that have ushered in the new age of terrorism and to help understand the impacts of terrorism on the risk perceptions and travel decisions of the traveling public and ultimately the health of the global tourism industry.
Using Causal Mapping to Understand the Terrorism-Tourism Nexus
Complexity Theory (CT) has been embraced by physical and social scientists alike to help understand uncertainty and non-linearity. One of the applications of CT is in understanding how organizations adapt to their environments and changing circumstances and how they respond to conditions of uncertainty. In light of the nonlinear and dynamic nature of terrorist networks and their complex structures and public reaction to such crises, CT offers insights into how such complex and dynamic systems function and offers a new set of conceptual tools to help explain terrorism, such as causal mapping. This paper proposes the use of causal mapping to understand global events that have ushered in the new age of terrorism and to help understand the impacts of terrorism on the risk perceptions and travel decisions of the traveling public and ultimately the health of the global tourism industry.