Crisis Management in Tourism

SUMMARY

Anticipating and preparing to deal with the threat of crises precipitated by disaster from natural and people-made catastrophes is an important challenge facing tourism. As an industry tourism is particularly susceptible to such negative events putting the sector under almost constant threat of a crisis. Before the catastrophes of 9/11 and the Asian Tsunami of 2004 crisis management in tourism was essentially a reactive response, as opposed to a state of proactive anticipation. A review of the emerging literature on crisis management in tourism is given to identify the foci of the current academic discourse. More systematic input by human resource management was identified as a way to assist tourism businesses in preparing for and dealing with crises. By discussing crisis management within a services management context, a contribution is made to the debate on the need for proactive crisis management within the tourism industry. A central plank to this position is that the preparation stage of crisis management in tourism is the actual beginning of any strategic response to recovery. Well conceived and executed human development is promoted as an initiative and key component of crisis preparation and management. Developing the potential of human capital at the industry and enterprise level to deal with crisis management is a way of reducing the vulnerability of tourism enterprises to crises. Measures are suggested that may be taken to prepare tourism businesses for crisis situations.     

Crisis Management and Tourism

Summary

Undoubtedly, the tourism industry is one of the most susceptible and vulnerable industries to crises. Recent major events that had devastating impacts on the industry ranges from natural disasters to epidemics, and from mismanagement to terrorist attacks. These kinds of episodes are not confined to any geographical region, as crises respect no political or cultural boundaries. Two major recent events illustrate this point: the BSE crisis in the UK in the 1990s, which was followed by the foot and mouth disease in 2000 and 2001, crippled the industry in several regions of England. Most recently, the events of September 11th in New York and Washington changed the way the industry operates forever. Crises are not new to the tourism industry. However, it has been observed that tourism management capability and ability to deal with complex and critical situations are limited.

This paper discusses the concept of crisis management and its relevance to tourism. It presents an overview of the general trends in tourism crises events of the last two decades, assesses the impacts of major man-made crises on the industry, and argues for the importance of crisis management in tourism management. The paper also discusses the complex issue of crisis definition and its implications for organizations, and provides an operational definition of crisis management. Critical issues in crisis management, such as crisis anatomy, crisis incubation, risk perception in tourism and destination image, are discussed. Finally, the paper explores and analyses, in the context of crisis anatomy, the public sector handling of a major resort pollution crisis in Southern Brazil.     

The Need to Use Disaster Planning Frameworks to Respond to Major Tourism Disasters

Summary

This paper looks at the Australian federal government's response to a series of tourism disasters and crises that affected the Australian tourism industry in 2001 and measures these impacts against the response mechanism suggested in the Tourism Disaster Framework Model developed by Faulkner (2001). The paper finds that as shocks often occur with little warning, the establishment of a formal disaster management framework should be given a high priority by government and receive support from the private sector. Had such a mechanism been in place in Australia prior to 2001, the government may have been able to respond to the disasters in a more considered manner.     

Developing a Research Agenda for Tourism Crisis Management,Market Recovery and Communications

SUMMARY

This article focuses on the need to develop a comprehensive research agenda for crisis management and market recovery in tourism. A review of the literature on research into risk, crisis and disaster management indicates that research has emerged on an ad hoc basis. Analysis of a database of over 2400 relevant references supports the need for a research agenda that will focus on crisis management and market recovery and communications, rather than prevention. The BEST Education Network research agenda on risk and crisis management for sustainable tourism is then presented as a basis for further development of a crisis management and market recovery research agenda. In particular, it elaborates on research issues related to the communication during tourism crises, assessing strategies for market recovery and understanding these issues from the DMO's perspective.     

Crisis Management and Its Impact on Destination Marketing

Abstract

This paper analyzes the crisis management procedures utilized by four specific Convention and Visitors Bureaus in a variety of disaster situations and locations across the United States. The crises studied are representative of both man-made and natural disasters, and occurred in destinations in which tourism plays a significant role. From these case studies, a comprehensive set of crisis management procedures was compiled for the benefit of Convention and Visitors Bureaus nationwide. Such standardized crisis management procedures will presumably contribute to a faster and more efficient recovery for any destination after a crisis, as these procedures have been used in actual crisis situations.     

Crisis Management in Small-Scale Tourism

Summary

Since the events of September 2001, many tourism academics, analysts, and corporations have displayed attention toward crises in the tourism industry. Most attention has focussed on how nations and large tourism corporations cope with unforseen crises. However, when crisis strikes, it is indiscriminate, affecting small-scale tourism businesses also. This article analyses some popular crisis management models, and their applicability to smaller scale businesses. The small island of Gili Air in Indonesia is examined, and the crisis management techniques employed by owners and operators of small and micro tourism businesses. The results indicate that while these businesses face similar issues resulting from crises, they are ill equipped to produce long-term solutions.     

Organizational Learning in Tourism Crisis Management: An Experience From Malaysia

Tourism and related organizations are dealing with crises either based on a specific crisis management plan, contingency planning, designed guideline, or ad hoc response. These organizations learn from crises in different ways, but no mechanisms have been explored to indicate how these organizations learn within the framework of Tourism Crisis Management (TCM). Among various reasons is limited systematic research that has been undertaken in this area. This study addresses this gap in our current knowledge by proposing a model for analyzing and developing organizational learning within the framework of TCM. The study shows the perceptions of 25 key players in Malaysia’s tourism industry on the role of organizational learning in managing crises. The findings also revealed that organizational learning is subject to negligence and few key practitioners thinking about in-depth learning from the crisis management perspectives.     

Crisis Management,Tourism and Sustainability: The Role of Indicators

The damage to tourism caused by a crisis or disaster may not only have serious implications for a national economy but also threaten the livelihoods of many in the destination. The monitoring of crisis indicators could allow intervention to minimise the crisis and offers a chance of protecting tourism for the benefit of all stakeholders. This paper evaluates the role of crisis indicators in sustainable tourism development, and shows why this is closely connected to issues in sustainable tourism. The author challenges the conventional classification of crises and suggests that grouping them according to their triggers is more useful in predicting and managing a potential crisis. Empirical data gathered during interviews with senior Malaysian public and private sector representatives highlight some of the practical issues associated with the identification and monitoring of appropriate indicators. The paper concludes that the new classification allows crisis management to be more cost-effective and may also be a key to indicator development for other aspects of sustainable tourism. The travel trade may hold the key to indicators of market trends, but there would be issues in obtaining the necessary information for reasons of confidentiality.     

Backpacking Your Way into Crisis

SUMMARY

Risk and tourism have become more closely interlinked in recent years. Recognising the complexity of tourist behaviour, research by Cohen (1972) classified tourists according to the degree of novelty or familiarity sought. Whilst the subject of extensive debate, many questions remain including to what extent perceived risk can be used as an indicator of tourist roles. Focusing upon the growing youth tourism market, backpackers in particular, travel patterns and attitudes towards risk were questioned and possible responses to a crisis differentiated through an exploratory qualitative study. The findings challenge both the resilience of the market alongside Cohen's (1972) typology suggesting backpackers exhibit different roles (drifter and explorer) dependent upon the risk in question. Given the exploratory nature of the work, the paper concludes calling for further targeted research.     

Tourism Crisis Management and Organizational Learning

SUMMARY

To date limited attention has been provided on the review stage of the crisis management framework, despite the importance of organizational learning for developing effective tourism crisis strategies. Using the concepts of double loop learning (Argyris and Schon, 1996), doubting (Blackman and Henderson, 2004) and Preskill and Torres (1999) core processes of evaluative enquiry, the paper discusses the possible application of critical evaluative inquiry and managed reflection by DMOs. The paper recommends that DMOs question their existing knowledge, assumptions and beliefs through reflection and dialogue with stakeholders and collect and analyse information, not just related to confirming the success of crisis strategies, but to assesses the likely impact of alternatives. Challenging existing mental models and capturing this emergent knowledge should enable DMOs to develop even better tourism crisis communication strategies in the future.     

旅游规划与管理中利益相关者研究进展

国外旅游研究在20世纪80年代中后期引入“利益相关者”概念，并在20世纪90年代中期开始进行相关研究；近年来，我国学者也开始在旅游规划与管理中引入利益相关者分析方法和理论。本文对国内外旅游研究中有关利益相关者分析方法和利益相关者管理的研究成果进行综述，并对今后国内关于利益相关者研究的方向作了思考。     

Crisis Management During the SARS Threat

ABSTRACT

No one could have predicted the outbreak of SARS and its impact on the tourism business. Within a fortnight, hotel occupancy dropped by more than 80% to a single digit record. The hotel industry in Hong Kong was largely caught unprepared, and had to quickly work out ways in which to mitigate the loss of business and profit. This paper identifies the impact of SARS on hotels in Hong Kong, and the relevant human resources strategies used to tackle the crisis. The findings show that unpaid leave and involuntary separation were the most common immediate solutions adopted by the hotels.     

我国旅游景区的主要危机及危机管理初探

景区是一种非常特殊的企业,景区危机具有自身鲜明的特点。本文比较系统地探讨了旅游景区危机及其管理问题。认为旅游景区可能发生的危机主要有由自然灾害或人为因素引起的突发性事件和完全由于人为因素引起的潜在危机两大类,着重对我国旅游景区的主要危机类型如战略危机、旅游资源和产品危机、形象和品牌危机、服务质量危机、突发事件危机、人才危机等进行了较深入的剖析。并深入分析了我国旅游景区实施危机管理的必要性和紧迫性。最后结合我国旅游景区危机特点,从危机防范、危机处理和危机总结3个方面提出了旅游景区危机管理的措施和对策。     

Management Principles in Hospitality and Tourism

ABSTRACT

Research into implicit leadership theories has revealed that people's conceptualizations of good and bad leadership, based on their experiences, have impacts on how they perceive leadership. This paper presents results from a study of 148 freshman Hospitality and Tourism Management students' pREFERENCES of management principles. It focuses on dichotomy principles in three dimensions, how tasks are defined (Functionalism vs. Idealism), how decisions are reached (Conflict vs. Harmony), and how organizational resources are utilized (Organic vs. Mechanic). The main findings were that there were large differences in the students' pREFERENCES and four characteristic groups were identified, though explaining the differences by mainly demographic variables was problematic. The findings and their implications are discussed with regard to industrial and educational implications and further research.     

旅游规划委托合约问题研究

本文运用产权经济学的理论与产权方法，从合约结构、合约效率、合约适用范围、合约的转换条件等几方面深入剖析了旅游规划管理过程中规划委托合约问题。     

可持续旅游开发多中心管理模式研究——以湖泊旅游为例

旅游开发必须建立在科学的管理模式下,才能确保资源环境的可持续利用.而作为常见的旅游开发形式,湖泊旅游具有较强的环境敏感性和生态脆弱性.本文以此为着眼点,系统论述了可持续目标下的旅游开发过程中的多中心管理模式,阐明了各行为主体的职能与关联,并就我国当前湖泊旅游开发管理的若干关键问题提出了建议和对策,尤其深入地针对一些流行观点进行了再认识.     

Activity Segmentation of the International Heritage Tourism Market to Taiwan

The heritage tourism market has developed from being regarded as a small niche segment to a mainstream market of considerable size. In Taiwan, diversified heritage resources hold considerable appeal to the international tourism market. Little research has been completed on international heritage tourists to Taiwan, so this study utilized Taiwan as a case study and examined international tourists to the destination. It first employed cluster analysis based on activity participation to segment the market and test for the existence of “heritage tourists”. Three groups of international tourists to Taiwan were identified and they were labelled as “heritage”, “shopping” and “non-specialists”. The heritage group had a high participation rate in visiting heritage relics (90.6%). The study also profiled tourists according to the reasons they travelled to Taiwan and socio-demographic variables. The heritage tourists and other activity participation groups were compared to reveal the major motivational and socio-demographic differences involved. The findings showed that “international heritage tourists to Taiwan” were a group of visitors with relatively younger ages, middle levels of income and higher educational levels. The study defined heritage tourists who indicated visiting heritage sites as part of their reason for visiting Taiwan as “motivated heritage visitors”. Other heritage tourists who participated in heritage activities, but did not list heritage tourism as a reason for visiting Taiwan, were defined as “heritage site visitors”. Finally, the study profiled the two groups of heritage tourists and compared them, with significant differences being found in ages and nationalities.     

Total Quality Management and Tourism and Hospitality Education

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the application of quality management concepts in relation to the provision of tourism and hospitality education, with a specific focus on Thailand. The key quality concepts, namely quality control, quality assurance, quality audit and “Total Quality Management” (TQM) are identified, and the applications of these concepts in the provision of tourism and hospitality education are discussed. The paper explores three main themes. The first is to examine how quality issues have been applied to tourism and hospitality education. Second, the paper outlines the concepts of quality management, which represent the key element of a TQM strategy to implement conformance to standards and quality improvement. The third theme discusses the specific case of Thailand, drawing on research in its early stages which examines quality management in tourism and hospitality education in Thailand. An outline of the nature of tourism and hospitality education in Thailand is provided, followed by a synopsis of the significant challenges facing Thai tourism and hospitality education. A procedure for examining quality in tourism and hospitality education in Thailand is proposed.     

旅游资源的资产化管理与旅游业环境经济政策研究--兼与敖荣军等同志商榷

本文运用资源与环境经济学相关理论 ,从旅游资源的形态、概念界定与产权、旅游资源的核算与价值评估、旅游资源的交易与可转让性等方面论述了旅游资源实行资产化管理的问题与不可行性 ,并简要分析了我国旅游业现有的环境经济政策的实施情况。