Hector-Project

Tourism is a cornerstone of European cohesion because Europe plays a leading role globally in this sector - hosting more than 700 million tourists a year - thus contributing to its economic development and preservation of its cultural identity. However, tourist sites consist of attractive destinations and areas of focus for visitors, terrorists, or terrorist organizations. This stems from the fact that tourist sites attract many people – entailing contextual diversity - they are easily accessible and present limited security measures. A potential terrorist attack against them may produce grave consequences (economic, societal, security, etc.) because it would include the (sought by the terrorists) symbolism, it could injure social cohesion and public trust in the EU states, and it would have international dimension (victims from many countries). The HECTOR project aims to create a holistic approach to the protection of tourism infrastructure throughout Europe, which will include actions deriving from the cooperation between the private and public sector (SOPs, recommendations, guidelines, tools, management protocols, and good practices at all levels of safety security), thus merging the elements of specific experience and expertise from several stakeholders (LEAs, municipalities, academia, tourism operators, etc.), with both the strategic priorities of the EU regarding the protection of public spaces, and the EU developed tools, methods and recommendations in this area. The project's name is inspired by Hector’s role during the Trojan War, a hero who was ready to do anything to protect its citizens against the most significant threats, the European community must strengthen the security level of the tourism industry and take all necessary measures that would safeguard the values of freedom and Democracy promoted by the civilized world.