World Travel Industry Weighs Fallout of the North Korean Nuke Test

The reported test of a nuclear bomb in North Korea last week should come as no surprise to the world. The North Korean government has flagged its intentions to develop a nuclear weapons capability for well over a decade.

In recent years, North Korea flirted with the idea of opening itself up to the world as a tourism destination. In 2004, a delegation from the Pacific Asia Travel Association led by Neil Plimmer was invited to investigate the possibility and prospects of developing a viable tourism industry in a destination that remains a mystery to most of the world.

Plimmer’s task force expressed guarded confidence that tourism offered some hope for North Korea to engage with the world, develop the country’s economy and provide gainful employment for many thousands of its citizens.

From a tourism perspective, the North Korean actions may have created a source of instability in the North Asian region, which is harmful for tourism. By contrast, South Korea has developed a thriving economy and its tourism industry has been an outstanding success story.

The potential security and economic implications of an uncertain situation on its northern border is no doubt causing grave concern to the Republic of Korea. China, with the Beijing Olympics a mere two years away and with every intention to capitalize on the Olympic tourism dividend before during and after the games, must be concerned about the perceptual implications of a questionable political environment on is doorstep.

Japan, the only country in the world to have directly experienced the horror of atomic weapons dropped on its cities, is now being forced to reevaluate its entire approach to militarization which in turn would cause concern to its neighbors.

The travel industry needs to tread warily in the current situation and avoid the understandable temptation to label the current situation as a crisis.

Tourism is clearly not going to be a solution for the current impasse between North Korea and the world but it does have the possibility of offering an opportunity for engagement between North Korea its regional neighbors and the wider world.