Risk & Crisis Management in Tourism Sector:
Recovery from Crisis
in the OIC Member Countries
115
2010, meaning that publicly funded bodies such as the national park authorities have
had to cut costs and reduce staffing levels.
 There is some confusion over the role and responsibilities of VisitBritain and the tourist
boards for the constituent parts of the UK (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland).
5.2.6. Conclusion
The FMD crisis of 2001 can be seen as the stressor event which broke into a poorly understood
system of rural tourism and caused it to be reformed, with a greater emphasis on support
through grants and promotion. This initially improved the enabling environment for businesses,
although more recently the industry has criticised the lack of strategic direction; however public
sector funding cuts since 2008 have affected all area of government activity and tourism is no
exception.
Lessons learned were that poor risk management and lack of preparedness for an event of this
type caused a risk to escalate into a significant crisis. Poor leadership was shown by the public
authorities, also in the area of market understanding: the government was unaware of the
importance of tourism to the rural economy.
Since the FMD crisis the sector has been reformed and the tourist boards overall provide a good
level of promotional activity and business support such as training and networking, although
not always with good attention to the needs of SMEs. UK tourism benefits from strong brand
recognition and currently appears healthy, although in general business owners regard the
uncertain consequences of the nation’s forthcoming withdrawal from the EU with trepidation.