Risk & Crisis Management in Tourism Sector:
Recovery from Crisis
in the OIC Member Countries
2
Figure E.1: Crisis Management Framework
No. Phase Principal strategies & actions Key stages
1 Pre-event Contingency planning Prevention, based on
known information
2 Prodromal (onset
of crisis situation)
Initiation of contingency plan Response
3 Emergency Protective actions during crisis Response
4 Intermediate Short-term needs addressed, clear
communication strategy in place
Response
5 Recovery Restoring infrastructure, facilities, and
tourist attractions, coordinated and
sustained marketing response
Stimulation of recovery
in mid and long term
6 Resolution Review of actions taken to feed into further
contingency plans
Prevention, based on
new learning
Based on Faulkner (2001)
Crisis management planning entails developing policies and procedures according to these six
phases; the principal actions are given in sub-section 3 below.
Resilience in Tourism
Resilience is the ability of a system to reduce the chances of a crisis occurring, mitigate the impacts
of a crisis, and recover its essential structures and functions quickly. The speed of recovery from a
crisis (or stress event) will depend on different forms of capital (social, political, economic) built up
in the phases before the event. Understanding resilience concepts can help to identify the necessary
interventions to enable a system to maintain its essential functions and allow faster and more
successful regeneration. Cochrane (2010) developed the concept in the context of tourism as ‘the
sphere of tourism resilience’, with the core features of a resilient system being:
 The ability to understand and harness market forces
 Collaboration between stakeholders to create strong networks
 Leadership, normally provided by the public sector
 Sufficient flexibility to adapt to change, including adaptive learning.
2. Types and Impacts of Crises in Tourism
In terms of predictability and avoidance, there are two broad categories of tourism-related crisis:
those beyond the control of managers, politicians and policy-makers, such as natural disasters,
disease epidemics, and sudden global economic events, and those resulting from a failure of
management and government to deal with predictable risks. These include (within a business) poor
management or leadership, financial fraud, loss of data, destruction of place of business due to fire
or flood without adequate back-up or insurance cover; and (at the level of a region or country) acts
of war or terrorism, political upheavals, crime waves, and anthropogenic climate change.