At a meeting organised by the Tourism Society on Wednesday 13th April 05, industry experts and tourism professionals came together to discuss…
At a meeting organised by the Tourism Society on Wednesday 13th April 05, industry experts and tourism professionals came together to discuss the topical issue of disaster response and crisis management in tourism.
The advice for the tourism industry was to create a crisis management plan using existing materials such as the WTO guidelines and the crisis management guide by Mary Lynch. When speaking at the meeting, Ms Lynch advised the audience to “take a holistic view” of what might affect tourists in a crisis, and critically, to ensure the co-operation of the responsible authorities.
The top ten tips for handling a crisis:
- Don’t Panic!
- Establish the facts
- Form a hand-picked advisory team
- Communicate with honesty and speed
- Ensure your internal and external messages are aligned
- Change your promotional messages to minimise the impact on your brand
- Update your website and staff continuously
- Cultivate the media with positive news, e.g. fam trips
- Concentrate on what you CAN do, not what you can’t
- Begin your long-term recovery plan as soon as crisis has officially ended
Sandie Dawe, VisitBritain Communications Director warned that “the actual event is usually less harmful than the fear it creates’ and explained that through co-operation and good management, such as the TIER (Tourism Industry Emergency Response) group, the industry can avoid exacerbating a crisis.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
