Cameron tells travel industry it must accept heightened security as a response to terror threat
David Cameron has warned airlines, tour operators and tourist boards not to underestimate concerns over terrorists being able to travel abroad to commit atrocities.
Speaking at the World Tourism and Travel Council Global Summit in Bangkok, the former prime minister said that the travel industry must accept that tighter restrictions and more rigorous checks are a necessary response to the global terror threat.
Cameron was asked his views on Donald Trump’s attempted and controversial travel ban, which forbade citizens from six Muslim countries from travelling to the US, when the backbench MP said he hoped that the tourism industry and governments around the world would work together on global security. Cameron said he thought Trump’s ban was “misconceived at the big picture level”.
However, speaking to the president of WTTC, David Scowsill, Cameron said: “I think the thing I would say to your industry though is, do not underestimate the concerns that ordinary voters have, politicians have on their behalf, about the danger of extremists and terrorists being able to travel.
“Yes, of course, we have homegrown terrorists of our own - people who who went to our own schools, who lived in our own communities, who have become radicalised, perhaps online, and carried appalling acts, but we’re not going to make it any better by allowing people to travel from countries where there are also extremists.
“I think you have to accept in your industry you are going to see greater emphasis on using technology ensuring we inspect people’s credentials at borders, making sure we expel illegal over-stayers. Countries have to do this. Prime ministers have to do these things.”
Last month, the UK followed the US’s lead in banning laptops on flights from a number of countries in the Middle East. This week it emerged that Britons flying to the US might, too, be forbidden from taking large electrical devices in their hand luggage.
Cameron also spoke about the benefits to tourism industries that removing visa restrictions on passengers can have, but again warned the possible freedom that might give illegal immigrants.
“I think [the travel] industry has to recognise that, yes, it’s a world that is opening up and that’s very exciting, but you do have occasions where a country that doesn’t require visas for travel into the UK, for instance, you soon see it start being used as a transit route for people from other countries that want to illegally enter and stay in your country,” he said.
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“My overall message is just don’t underestimate the pressure on your prime ministers to deal with immigration, to deal with over-stayers, to try to cut down on the number of bogus asylum seekers, this is a very real pressure. And we need your help to do everything we can on that front, while opening tourism up as much as we can.”
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