Substitute Holidays; One resort's tragedy is another's boon.(Cover story)

Byline: Ginanne Brownell with Hallee Berg

Since explorer David Livingstone first clapped eyes on Victoria Falls in 1855, an entire tourist industry has built up around them. Visitors to the Zimbabwean side go bungee-jumping off the main bridge, raft down the Zambezi River and ride elephants through the bush. But lately political instability has been scaring travelers off. That's good news for neighboring Zambia--where the majority of the falls actually lie--which has seen a marked boom in tourism. In the first quarter of 2005 alone, tourism to Zambia jumped by 40 percent. "Zimbabwe has definitely seen a slippage in numbers," says Donald Pelekamoyo, tourism manager for the Zambian High Commission in London. "I would not say we have taken advantage [of the political situation], but we have used the opportunity."

As the expression goes, one man's loss is another man's gain. That holds true for many ravaged hot spots around the globe that have seen their visitor numbers dwindle after political turmoil or natural disaster. Those tourists don't stay home--they just go somewhere else. "It used to be that if something affected their chosen destination, travelers may well have decided not to go," says Tom Hall, Lonely Planet's travel-information manager. "Now ...