Skift Take
In the wake of a tragedy, destinations are hugely beholden to the public perception of how safe it is to travel there, regardless of the reality on the ground. But the United States — which has experienced more mass shootings than there are days in 2019 — is unfairly exempt from that struggle.
If you type in the phrase “Is it safe to travel to…” in the Google search bar, it’s instructive to see what countries come up in response: Sri Lanka, Turkey, Hong Kong, Tunisia.
Unsurprisingly, these are all destinations which have, in recent weeks or months, experienced some kind of civil unrest or terrorist incident. Whether or not these locations pose any material threat to travelers is somewhat irrelevant. In the wake of terror incidents or civil unrest, their SEO becomes their destiny.
But perhaps what’s more instructive is what doesn’t show up on that list. Rarely are you likely to find a country like the United States. A country where, according to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 253 mass shootings in the country since the beginning of 2019. That's more shootings than days. Two of those occurred over the weekend in less than 24 hours, first in El Paso, Texas followed by Dayton, Ohio, leaving 31 dead.
Of course it's true that sometimes, destinations truly are unsafe to visit and officials should warn accordingly. But much of the time,
