Risk & Crisis Management in Tourism Sector:
Recovery from Crisis
in the OIC Member Countries
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 Direct funding by government and development agencies for rapidly re-building or
upgrading infrastructure in the short-term, and for capacity-building in the medium to
longer term.
 Product diversification, which can be integrated with market diversification to reduce
reliance on a narrow range of products and services.
 Improved security on the ground and on flights (both visible to travellers and behind
the scenes).
 Loosening of visa regulations or reduction in cost.
 Close collaboration by government authorities with other stakeholders.
 Good communication between the tourism industry and local community to ensure
their support for tourism.
6.2.4. Critical Success Factors
 Where countries (or destinations) already have a robust tourism industry with strong
underlying USPs, good recognition as a brand, and good customer loyalty (e.g. a high
level of repeat visitors and warm links between visitors and local people), it is more
likely that recovery from crisis will be swift. In some cases tourists who feel a personal
connection with a country will donate money for its recovery (especially in the case of a
natural disaster), and make a point of visiting in order to support the industry.
 The most successful recovery has been evidenced where there is strong government
commitment to the industry as well as leadership in terms of strategy, policy, and
understanding of market trends.
 Recovery has also been helped where there is clear evidence of public and private
sectors working together and supported by the general public.
 Deregulation of over-bureaucratic procedures and introducing incentives for
encouraging foreign investment.
 Looking to the longer term, some governments have introduced training programmes
to build human resource capacity generally across the sector.
6.3. Public and Third Sector Responses and Resilience
In any tourism system, it is only the public sector which has the necessary resources, long-term
view and balanced approach towards all stakeholders to provide the strong leadership which is
essential for success of the tourism industry on a sustainable basis, and the creation and
distribution of benefits for as many stakeholders as possible. It is also only the public sector which
can create the enabling environment for tourism in the first place, particularly through its approach
to legislation and taxation. For example, it was seen in the Indonesia case study that the Indonesian
government created the foundations for the rapid growth in international tourismduring the 1980s
and 1990s by deregulating the sector, including removing barriers to foreign investment and
reducing its formerly heavy-handed approach to tourism enterprise licensing. Furthermore, in
2017 the government of The Gambia was able quickly to lower taxes on fuel and energy supplies in
order to reduce the cost burden for hotels affected by the loss of business due to the political crisis