What have we learnt from tourism risk management?
There are two fundamental roles for tourism in risk management:
1st. As a partner with the government and community agencies in the development of multiagency, coordinated disaster management plans, systems, procedures and processes which include the needs of tourism.
2nd. To develop plans and procedures appropriate to a destination and to the specific roles and responsibilities of an organization, to train personnel to those plans and conduct regular test of plans, procedures and personnel with subsequent amendment and update.
While each tourist destination is unique and will have different issues to deal with, there are key areas of risk management which are common across destinations. The most obvious is a dramatic drop in visitor numbers in which the impact is felt across a whole economy. This is why recovery strategies are so essential.
Crisis recovery management tasks include:
- Establishing recovery objectives.
- Identifying priorities of action
- Liaising with relevant government and non-government agencies and community leaders.
The ongoing outbreak of Swine Flu continues to expand in the United States and to other countries in the world. A central lesson in all the case study material collected by EC3 Global is that, in times of crises, residents and visitors need firm leadership and direction. EC3 Global has previously worked with APEC to develop the guide ‘Tourism Risk Management- an Authoritative Guide to Managing Crises in Tourism’. The Guide, which can be accessed for free on http://www.apec.org/apec/publications/all_publications/tourism_working_group.html, provides a practical framework within which tourism destinations can identify, analyze, evaluate, treat, monitor and review risk. While each tourism destination is unique there are key areas of risk management which are common across all regions. The Guide provides practical checklists which can assist destinations and tourism businesses to adapt and implement urrent risk management processes.
Contact EC3 Global for more details.