Winston Aldworth: A terrible thing

Security at travel hubs have been increased on this Independence Day holiday weekend after terrorist attacks at Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport. Photo / AP

From the Travel Editor.

It's no wonder airports and airplanes make such juicy targets for terrorists. Pardon me while I get dewy-eyed for a moment, but international travel is a good thing - bringing people together, reuniting lovers, introducing new friends and, of course, putting the wind beneath the wings of global commerce and trade.

Last week's suicide attack at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul put the threat from terrorist action squarely on the global news agenda - which took some doing as the citizenship of the United Kingdom had hilariously just voted for their children to not have the right to live and work in any one of 27 other European countries.

Following the attacks, Tony Tyler, CEO of the International Air Transport Association emphasised the importance of global air travel. "Air transport brings people together and facilitates both social and economic development.

"But terrorism will never succeed in reversing the interconnectedness of the world. The desire of the human spirit to explore and trade will always triumph over suspicion and fear."

It's an admirable sentiment. But I worry that Tyler might have been a little optimistic. Look how much the tourism trade in Egypt struggles every time a fresh terror attack blasts into view.

The cornerstone of the Egyptian tourism industry is visitors from, er, Britain and the EU. They book at short notice and change their minds at short notice. Bad luck if your job depended on them visiting.

I hope that "desire of the human spirit to explore" will outlast such hateful times.