Risk & Crisis Management in Tourism Sector:
Recovery from Crisis
in the OIC Member Countries
138
 Maintaining outline intelligence on how many tourists are in the principal destinations at
any time, depending on the season. This will help with planning in the event of emergency
evacuation procedures becoming necessary.
 Maintaining an up-to-date list of consular officials attached to each Embassy or High
Commission who can be contacted in the event of a crisis incident affecting nationals of
their country.
 Maintaining an up-to-date list of key contacts (email addresses, phone numbers) of
businesses, trade associations and DMOs, so that close contact can be maintained in the
case of an emergency.
 Maintenance of good relations with the media, especially news agency reporters,
prominent travel writers or travel media editors in key source markets. This means that in
the event of a crisis, press coverage is likely to be more favourable.
 Establishing clear channels of communication for tourists to access at any time: for
instance, Thailand has two easy-to-remember phone numbers for dedicated 24-hour call
centres staffed by English-speaking personnel: there is a Tourist Police hotline number to
assist victims of crime or accidents is on 1155, while a ‘Helpline’ on 1111 was established
in 2015 for non-emergency complaints.
These actions take place during the ‘Conservation’ phase of the resilience cycle (as explained in
Section 1.3) and will help to build up a resilient tourism system with sufficient human and social
capital to ensure strong linkages between stakeholders.
6.3.2. Prodromal Phase: Warning Signs of the Crisis
In some cases there may be no warning of an impending crisis, such as in the case of a natural
disaster, while in others the signs may be evident some time in advance, such as with a disease
outbreak, a deteriorating economic situation or the waning popularity of a government. It is
relatively straightforward to plan emergency procedures for events in the former category – even
though the exact location affected by the disaster will generally be unknown – but it is sometimes
challenging for government officials to prepare for crises of the latter nature, especially if their
careers are linked to the prevailing government of the day.
Nevertheless, there is a good deal that can be done to ensure that measures are prepared for use in
a crisis. The principal actions are:
 Preparation of draft press releases for use in crisis situations. Usefully, the UNWTO’s 2011
‘Toolbox for Crisis Communications’ includes 17 templates for press releases for a variety
of emergency situations, including volcanic eruptions, major rail accidents, terrorist
attacks, and outbreaks of infectious disease. All government NTOs which are members of
UNWTO will have free access to this report and should ensure its availability to key
personnel, especially those tasked with crisis management.
 Those responsible for communications during a crisis should ensure that the relevant
UNWTO templates are adapted to the country or destination and pre-prepared (as far as
possible) for release in the event of a fully developed crisis.