The debate over travel warnings

The threat of terrorism can hit both travelers and the tourism industry hard, especially if governments warn their citizens to stay clear of certain places.

In a bid to keep people safe, some governments have deployed an arsenal of techniques, including color-coded alerts and travel advisories.
Yet a number of countries are complaining loudly about the damage blacklisting does.
Some nations cooperate to get advisories lifted as soon as they are put in place. They try and address the issues with the hope that travelers will return.
"We deal with them very seriously. We work in close cooperation with the governments that issue advisories," Ahmed El Khadem of the Egyptian Tourism Authority told CNN.
"We ask them to review them when any part of the advisory no longer holds. And we get a very good response from governments."
Many warnings are aimed at countries with little or no travelers from overseas, including destinations such as Somalia or Iraq.
But Britain and the United States warn that there are dangerous areas in well-traveled countries such as Russia, Uganda and the Philippines.
Although many nations say travelers have the right to be informed, some angry Filipino lawmakers have said advisories can be insulting and outdated, while other officials believe warnings by some nations can be extremely subjective.
"I think it is about perception. When I came to London a few years ago I was worried about safety -- same in the New York subway," says Raphael Tuju, Kenya's acting Tourism Minister.
Instead of complaining, Kenya has tried to get travel warnings lifted by working with U.S. and British intelligence officials.
"They have sent inspectors in, they have gone and seen the weak spots and they have given us advice on how to deal with them," says Raymond Matiba of the Kenyan Tourist Board.
"We have then taken that advice. And we are happy to say that the UK has lifted their advisories late in 2003."
And Americans are returning to Kenya, even though the U.S. advisory still stands. Indonesia is also seeing tourists going back to Bali despite continued warnings.
"Advisories are not designed to harm any destination. They are designed for the safe-guarding of people. And we respect that," El Khadem says.
And with travel up 10 percent this year, according to the World Tourism Organization (WTO), more countries hope to cash in on the return of tourists, with or without warnings.
"I think tourist boards are more worried than (travelers). People do not tend to look at that carefully. It really has to be something like a (bomb in) Israel to make a difference," says Jeff Foley of online travel company Orbitzaway.com.
"Turkey has had a travel advisory for a year but people still go to Istanbul. People are still going to the Mediterranean."