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No Terrorist Is Going To Stop My Travel Plans
By Gina Greenlee
The Hartford Courant
October 2, 2001
After years of procrastination, I had finally booked a
two-week dream vacation to Egypt scheduled for January 1998. In
November 1997, terrorist snipers at Hatshepsut's temple in Luxor
killed 58 tourists, two police officers and two Egyptian civilians before
being killed when surrounded by authorities. In the
days following the news report of the attack, all my colleagues
said, "You're going to cancel, right?"
Thousands of tourists from international travel companies had
already done so, setting off tourism drought and economic panic
in Egypt. The Manchester Conn.-based travel group that I had signed on
with immediately offered refunds, alternative destinations and
rebooking for the following year. In addition to those options,
the company decided to run the original January trip. Of the 141
travelers booked, 35 flew to Egypt.
I was one of them.
We all know the statistics. The probability of dying in an
accident on the highway or in our homes is greater than our plane
crashing or being hijacked. And while we don't dwell on it, we
also know that our national security is at risk daily, that
multiple factions of our government are on watch 24/7 for our
safety, that in successes unseen, as President Bush alluded to in
his September 20th, 2001 congressional address, provide us with a
quality of life we have, perhaps, taken for granted.
Yet, the airline business lost millions of dollars in the week
following the tragedies in New York, Pennsylvania and
Washington, D.C., because of canceled reservations. To cope with the
empty seats, U.S. airlines have cut more than 100,000 jobs, in
part by trimming flight schedules. And in the five days after the
attack by terrorist hijackers, Amtrak ridership rose at least 17
percent nationwide, to about 80,000 passengers a day.
Did the terrorist attack in Luxor give me pause? Certainly.
Did I consider not visiting Egypt? You betcha. So why did I
go?
First, I reasoned that in the aftermath of such an attack,
terrorist activity in Egypt would subside for a time. The
Egyptian government had heightened security measures across the
country, especially at popular tourist attractions and had
cracked down on known terrorist groups. So, I concluded, those
responsible for the attack would lay low and not risk being
apprehended or killed.
Next, I decided that even if I postponed my trip to the
following year, my safety was no more guaranteed. Who knows? The
terrorists might wait as long as a year for traveler fear to
wane, security to relax and tourism to once again flow.
But here was my bottom line. Even if I hadn't planned to visit
Egypt, hanging out in Hartford or Chicago or Boston wouldn't
provide immunity against death. My time would come one day
whether I boarded a plane or not. And most likely, I'd have no
control over when and how. But in November 1997, I became the
clearest I've ever been about how I would choose to live. And the
events of September 11 have only affirmed it.
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