Dr David Beirman : Senior Lecturer- Tourism

Management Discipline Group, UTS School of Business

University of Technology Sydney
Global Eco Asia Pacific Tourism Conference Nov 18-20 2013
Noosa Queensland

The Global Issues of Tourism Risk and Crisis

Management : Bolts from the Blue

Bolts from the Blue: The Climate

Change Dimension

Rising Sea Levels

Changing Storm Patterns and Movements

Extreme weather events Heightened El Nino and La

Nina Effect
Coral Bleaching
The Australian dimension
Floods
Droughts
Bushfires
Cyclones and Sea Surges

Bolts From the Blue Relevant to

this Presentation

Major Natural Disasters including Storms, Floods,

Earthquakes, Volcanoes , Tsunamis.

Cases Discussed: 2011 Queensland Flood, 2011 Japan
Tsunami, 2012 Cyclone Evan Fiji and Samoa
Epidemics and Pandemics
Cases Examined SARS 2003, H1N1 (Swine Flu 2009-10)
OUR CORE THEME : Strategies for effective
contingency and rapid reputational recovery

CORE Challenges in Tourism Crisis

and Recovery Management

The speed and spread of bad news through traditional

and social media requires a rapid and verifiable

tourism industry response.

The speed and spread of modern media enables a
recovery message to be transmitted rapidly.

A natural disaster or a crisis in a destination or an
individual tourism business is a threat to reputation.

The basis of a successful and rapid recovery campaign
requires the massages transmitted being, honest ,
transparent, verifiable and visual.

The Media Mix-Challenge and

Opportunity

The Risk Management Model

Australian Emergency Management Institute

The Four Rs of Crisis Management

Communicate
Consult
Document
Monitor
Review

Readiness

Recovery

Response

Reduction

Key Readiness Questions

Do we have a crisis Management Plan ?

Have we made a prioritised assessment /audit of

risk to our business/ destination?

Are our staff trained and drilled to respond to the
most likely crises to impact on our business/
destination ?
Are we insured ?
Do we have well established procedures and
contact networks with emergency management
service providers ?
Is our critical data protected, backed up and
securely stored at an alternative location ?

Safe Siting of Coastal Resort

accommodation V Risky Siting

The importance of locating Tourism

infrastructure, resorts correctly and
accommodation on safe sites

Signage and Evacuation Points

Recent Communication Effort

Cyclone Evan Samoa and Fiji
December 2012

Copyright PPRT - PATA

Good and Bad Handling by Government Agencies

Cyclone Evan Samoa

/ Fiji December 2012
Good Handling

Warnings to

stakeholders of
impending
threat

Clear real time
status reports
of access,
accommodation
and transport.

A clear recovery
alliance and
reasons to
return

Poor Handling

Lack of communication

to stakeholders.

Lack of information on
the status of
tourism
infrastructure.

Lack of compelling
reasons for tourists
to return to a
destination
Copyright PPRT - PATA

Recent Perceptual Challenges

Queensland Floods 2011 all Queensland underwater

Japanese Tsunami 2011- All of Japan radioactive

Christchurch Earthquake 2011- New Zealand South

island off limits

Mexico Hurricane Sep 2013- all of Mexico Off-limits to
tourists

NSW Bushfires October 2013- NSW Ablaze

The media response to Japan Tsunami and

Fukushima March 2011

The Key Issues Communicated to Restore

Tourism and Stakeholder Confidence during
and after a Bolt from the Blue

Attractions, events & services open and operating

Attractions events & services cancelled and inoperable

The status of access to and transport within a

destination

Are tourists welcome and safe?

Visual and real time evidence to support the above

The veracity of the above is crucial in terms of
destination and tourism business reputation

Sandy Holways 10 Commandments of Tourism

Recovery Management Sandy Holway ,APEC Tourism Forum May 15 2007 Managed Recovery
of Nth Queensland after Cyclone Larry in 2006. .

Recovery Alliance (public

Public communications.

and private sector) +

media.
Dedicated machinery for
recovery but within a time
limit.
Whole of government
involvement. National,
State/Provincial, local.
Rapid, honest response.
Time is everything.
Engage the affected
community.

Centralized, honest and

informative.
Proper Process with
planned Outcomes. Use
successful proven methods
when possible. Dont reinvent the wheel.
People are more important
than budgets.
Get ahead of the curve
through strategic and
contingency planning.
Build back better.

Whats involved in Building Back Better. A

few Examples

Infrastructure improvements to minimise destruction

from the elements. This includes location planning.

Improved crisis management procedures.
Learning from mistakes.
Enhancing solidarity between the tourism industry
and local community.
Enhancing involvement of government in tourism.
Enhanced and improved business and destination
marketing.
Improved emergency management procedures.
Enhanced security.

Tactical Issues: Post Crisis

Recovery

Isolation Strategy. Placing the problem in context.

Regional Tourism Marketing.
Rebuilding confidence and reputation transparently.
The interactive web site.
Alliance Marketing.
Market stratification Stalwarts, Waverers, discretionary
travelers.
Profile maintenance.
Image diversification.
Blitz push and pull Marketing campaigns.
Effective familiarizations with testimonials.
TIMING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Avoiding Tourisms Most Common PostPostCrisis Recovery Trap: The Financial

Striptease
Incentive based recovery
should be financially sustainable.

Focus on value adding rather
than discounts.

Avoid the financial striptease of
dropping your prices and
exposing your bottom line.

Once a business strips
prices. consumers will resist
attempts to get dressed again.

SARS in SE Asia, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan

and Canada

Duration of outbreak February-July 2003.

SARS a virus Severe Acute respiratory Syndrome.

(similar to pneumonia)

The Spread of SARS in Eastern and SE Asia &

Canada

SARS was observed in China in late 2002.

Transmitted to Hong Kong, Singapore, Vietnam,
Taiwan in Feb Mar 2003.

Cases in Canada (esp.Toronto) in March 2003.

In total cases identified in 34 countries.

Total cases 8,800

Total deaths 775.

Most cases between
March- July 2003.

SARS and Tourism

During peak of SARS scare in April 2003
international arrivals in Hong Kong and Singapore
down by 90% on 2002 levels.

Impacted on outbound and inbound tourism in SE
and Eastern Asia.

WHO alerts and massive publicity deterred 12
million tourists away from Asia in the 2nd Quarter
of 2003.

Led to massive unemployment and financial loss
in tourism industry of affected countries.

Some Media Myths about SARS

Pandemic.
Easily transmittable.
Incurable and not preventable.
Danger to travel anywhere
in SE Asia.

Can be caught on aircraft.

Transiting in SE Asia risky and dangerous.

All of Asia in the grip of the disease.

The Result of SARS related Media driven

Perceptions in SE Asia in 2003

Thailand 9 cases of SARS loss of tourism 2 million

DURING THE YEAR.

Philippines 64 cases of SARS 2 fatal Loss of tourists
200,000.

Malaysia 4 cases loss of tourists 600,000
during the year.

Treating and Preventing SARS

Isolating of patients and quarantining specific

neighborhoods.
Exit and arrival screening at airports in SE Asia and at
places where Asian Pax had arrived.
Heavy use of surgical masks.
Education and hygiene campaign.
Enhanced air filtration in aircraft ordered by IATA on
member carriers.

The Travel Industry Fights Back

PATAs Project Phoenix- a tourism recovery
template .

Strong alliances developed between government
tourism marketing boards and all sectors of
tourism private sector.

Intensive PR and marketing campaign to
entice tourists to return.

NTOs, IATA, PATA, ASEAN Tourism marketing
and national travel industry bodies in SE an East
Asia cooperate in crisis communications.

PATAs Project Phoenix

Just a reminder

Media involvement as a partner. CNN and BBC.

Heavy government investment esp from Singapore and

Hong Kong.
Regional recovery focus for East and SE Asia.
Individual country recovery programs e.g Singapore Roars.
Debunking of SARS myths.
Common incentive programs throughout the region.
Extensive use of internet as a key medium of information
and update dissemination.
Extensive use of testimonials in key source markets.

Tourism Recovers to SE and Eastern Asia

Hong Kong return to growth by July 2003.

Singapore sees the beginning of Growth by October

2003.

Both Hong Kong and Singapore engage in re-imaging
campaigns.

All SE Asian destinations return to growth by March
2004.

Key Tourism Issues of SARS Crisis

Perception.

Media significant element in creating and
exacerbating crisis and resolving crisis.

Regional public and private sector tourism alliance
formed and worked cooperatively in face of a
common threat.

Collateral destination victims including Australia.

The importance of the WWW as a
communications and information tool.

Today we can add social media to this mix

H1N1 Swine Flu 2009

Initial cases identified in Mexico April 2009

Initial response similar to SARS and Crisis declared for

tourism to Mexico

By October 2009 H1N1 Spread

globally

H1N1 Moves from Tourism Crisis to

Health Hazard

The tourism industry learned from the SARS outbreak

to effectively challenge the perception of H1N1 as a

health crisis. This was despite the fact that the WHO
defined H1N1 as a pandemic

Although H1N1 spread throughout the world the facts
about the disease and its relative lack of severity was
effectively communicated to and by multiple tourism
industry stakeholders.

Apart from the initial outbreak in Mexico H1N1 was
treated as more of a hazard than a crisis for tourism.

To Sum Up

Factoring bolts from the blue is now integral to

tourism management.
Tourism destinations and businesses need to have a
risk management plan.
A crisis communications strategy focussing on
verifiable facts is an essential element of the tourism
management toolkit.
Prepare to counter negative perceptions with visual
facts.
Recovery is accelerated through effective
communication.

Thank you: Questions welcome

Dr David Beirman

David.beirman-2@uts.edu.au