Crisis Guidelines for the Tourism Industry
Horrific terrorist attacks and acts of war have cast dark clouds over the tourism ctor in many parts of the world, underscoring the urgent need for good crisis management in this industry—which usually prefers to be thought of as happy and carefree.
While news of large-scale cris has filled the newspapers and airwaves over the past 18 months, a tourism crisis can take an infinite variety of forms and have been occurring regularly for many years. Natural disasters, such as floods, hurricanes, fires or volcanic eruptions sometimes do more harm to the image of a destination than to the infrastructure itlf. Civil unrest, accidents, crime and dia will damage the attractiveness of the strongest destinations. While even economic factors, such as a sharp fluctuation in exchange rates can contribute to a tourism crisis.
Simply put: “A crisis is any unexpected event that affects traveller confidence in a destination and interferes with the ability to continue operating normally.”
Crisis management strategies are needed to help retain the confidence of travellers and the travel industry, and to minimize the impact of a crisis on the destination.
No matter what kind of crisis occurs, the techniques for dealing with it effectively are quite similar. Good communications bad on the principles of honesty and transparency is the key to successful crisis management, but other tourism specialties also need to be involved, especially:
A) Communications
B) Promotion
C) Safety and curity
D) Market rearch
To assist WTO members with this process, the following guidelines suggest specific actions take:
to
I. Before a crisis
II. During the actual problems
III. Immediately after a crisis
The goal is to get tourists returning to the destination as quickly as possible and good crisis management techniques can speed up that process.
I. BEFORE THE CRISIS: Preparing for the Worst
Never underestimate the possible harm a crisis can do to your tourism. Cris are like virus—sudden, insidious and virulent. They are extremely dangerous. The best way to minimize the impact of a crisis is to be well prepared.
A) Putting a communications strategy in place
• Prepare a crisis management plan
A crisis can take a myriad of forms so begin to plan by imagining the
worst-ca scenario. Audit current resources for dealing with a crisis.
Designate responsibilities and a chain of command for decision-making.
Collect a list of key contacts in an emergency. Involve public rvices
and private tourism companies in the planning process—one key to
down什么意思effective crisis management is good cooperation. Rehear for a crisis and update the plan annually.
• Designate spokespersons
It is esntial that information to the media in a crisis be authoritative and coordinated. For this, the designated spokesperson should be a high-ranking official, but not necessarily the top person in your organization. Additional spokespersons also need to be designated to take turns during a crisis. Train spokespersons by practising in mock news conferences and crisis rehearsals.
• Establish a press and communications department
To be prepared for a crisis, every tourism organization needs to t up a communications department. The department should include staff trained in working with the media, a good contact list of local and international media, veral telephone lines, fax broadcast machines or a mass email computer programme capable of reaching the media on short notice, and background information on your organization—including maps, stock photos, arrivals statistics and fact sheets on previous cris. If possible, make this background information available in a special media ction of your destination’s website.
kui• Communicate regularly with media
Reputations can take years to develop, so it is important to communicate frequently in good times as well as bad. The policy should be one of honesty and transparency. You can face a crisis with a certain degree of credibility, if you have made an effort to establish good contacts with the media by supplying them with information about what is new in your destination, if you have promptly responded to any questions they have and if you have made good friends with reporters during fam trips organized for foreign journalists.
• Pay attention to local media
Local newspapers, television reports and radio are a primary source of information for international media. In a crisis, local news reports can go global within minutes. So even though your principle target is media in the main generating markets, you cannot afford to ignore local journalists. Local newsmen and newswomen will also stay interested in your crisis recovery story long after the international media has moved elwhere to a new crisis.
• Train spokespersons in safety and curity issues Communications on curity should be responsive rather than pro-active. When a crisis erupts, the spokesperson should be able to commu
nicate in an authoritative manner on curity issues, striking a good balance between providing enough information without putting too much emphasis on curity issues. According to one tourism minister experienced in such matters: “You do curity, you don’t talk about it.”
B) Promotion planning
• Develop a data ba of partners in the travel trade
All tour operators nding tourists to your destination, as well as major
travel agencies and transport companies in your key generating markets
should form the foundation of the data ba, but also include incoming
operators and tour organizers, as well as local hotels, transport
companies, local promotion boards and tourism associations.
• Build an email or fax broadcast system
Communications systems capable of reaching the partners in your
databa should be in place for u in a crisis. But begin communicating
news directly to your partners on a regular basis before a crisis strikes.
If you only communicate during problematic periods, the image
transmitted will be one of nothing but trouble.
• Be honest and ethical in promotion
Just as in communications, building and maintaining credibility is
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billowfundamental in tourism promotion. Avoid overlling or misreprenting
your product and be ethical in the choice of promotional content or you
could create your own crisis. The Bahamas, for example, was recently
slammed in the international media for using photos in its advertising
that were taken in Hawaii, the Seychelles and Florida.
• Set aside budget rerves for emergencies
Recuperating from a crisis requires money for additional promotion and
communication activities. A prudent manager will t aside budget
rerves in a special emergency fund for u if a crisis occurs. Try to get
advance permission to spend crisis funds without going through lengthy
bureaucratic procedures to permit a quick and flexible respon in an
emergency.
• Stay out of the Travel Advisory War
Travel advisories should be issued in accordance with Article 6 of
WTO’s Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, which states: “...governments
should issue such information without prejudicing in an unjustified or
exaggerated manner the tourism industry of host countries and the
interests of their own operators.” Travel advisories should be discusd
with authorities in the host country and travel professionals before they
are issued. Warnings should be limited to specific geographical areas
rather than blanket an entire country and be lifted as soon as the
situation returns to normal. Avoid retaliatory travel advisories.
• Improve communication of curity issues with tourists
Make tourist safety and emergency information available on your
website. Some of the most uful information to include is: emergency
ios是什么telephone numbers; exchange rates; design of banknotes; common rules
of behaviour; places to avoid traveling; safe places to leave luggage;
average prices of common purchas; the need to report crimes before a
tourist returns home; and the importance of keeping photocopies of
travel documents. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) website, for
example, includes information on tough laws aimed at ending child
prostitution and urges visitors to report incidents.
• Encourage tourists to learn food safety practices
The World Health Organization has prepared an excellent booklet of
advice called “Safe Food for Travellers”. Adapt this information on how
to avoid illness while travelling for u in promotional material,
especially on the destination website or provide link to the booklet on the
WHO website: www.who.int/fsf/Documents/brochure/travellers.PDF
C) Reviewing curity systems
• Maintain a working relationship with other government
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departments responsible for safety and curity
Decisions made by police agencies, emergency rvices, as well as the
departments of interior, health, consumer affairs, judiciary, foreign
affairs, and civil defence have a great influence on how a crisis involving
tourists is managed. Start a Safety and Security working group to bring
the partners together on a regular basis to discuss tourism. In South
Africa, for example, the Tourism Safety Task Group is made up of the
Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, the national police,
the tourism board (SATOUR), the Tourism Business Council, the
Department of Foreign Affairs and nine provincial tourism departments.
• Get involved in defining curity procedures
Tourism authorities need to make sure they are aware of all curity
measures being taken that affect the industry. Review the entire tourism
小学三年级英语试卷
chain—airport arrivals, ground transport, hotels, restaurants, shopping
zones and all tourist sites. Consider the need for enhanced curity at all
sites, including places like beaches or entertainment districts. The goal is
to provide a safe environment with procedures that are as invisible as
possible and do not restrict the arrival of tourists.
• Designate a National Tourist Safety and Security Focal Point
Every National Tourism Administration should designate a person to act
as a liaison with other government bodies, specialized rvices, the
tourism ctor and the WTO rvices on safety and curity issues. The
NTSS Focal Point will also keep records on basic facts of tourist
curity, such as rules and regulations, identification of risks, safety
statistics and incidents. In addition, this person should join the WTO
Safety and Security Network, sharing information with their counterparts
around the world and posting safety information on the WTO website.
• Train local personnel in curity issues
NTAs can take an active role in improving safety and curity by
sponsoring workshops on safety issues for local tourism workers and
especially by encouraging partnerships between public curity and
private curity companies in the tourism ctor, such as local police and
hotel curity guards. In addition, undertake community awareness
programmes that help local residents recognize the value of tourism to
their communities. They can help make it safer for visitors by reporting
suspicious activities.
temperament• Establish tourism police and emergency call centres
Special tourism police forces, such as the ones in Argentina, the
Dominican Republic, Egypt,Greece and Malaysia, are trained to offer
assistance in veral languages. Mexico’s Green Angels patrol the
highways with bilingual crews. Other countries offer call centres with
multi-lingual operators to handle emergencies involving visitors.
Information on how to contact the emergency rvices needs to be
communicated clearly to tourists on arrival.
D) Rearch readinesssooner
• Establish strong contacts with key partners in the private ctor
Set up reciprocal agreements with major hotels, airlines and tour
奢侈怎么读operators to exchange up-to-the-minute data on overnight stays,
occupancy rates, pricing, etc.Build an email or fax system capable of
exchanging your data with the key partners.
• Monitor hospital admissions involving tourists
Information on non-crisis situation hospital admissions of tourists can be
ud as a point of comparison to put any possible problems in the future
in a proper perspective.
• Monitor crime against tourist
Statistics on crimes against tourists can help experts find gaps in curity
rvices, improve the quality of the destination and possibly help avoid
crisis-scale problems in the future. Crime statistics can also be ud as
background information, providing a context for crisis communication
and a reference point for demonstrating a return to normalcy.
