Risk & Crisis Management in Tourism Sector:
Recovery from Crisis
in the OIC Member Countries
5
3. Mitigation and Response Strategies and Actions
Due to the frequency of crises and consequent institutional learning through efforts to deal with
them, crisis management techniques are now well understood and offer sophisticated ways of
avoiding their occurrence and mitigating their negative consequences through swift and effective
actions.
Many countries have a national system for disaster or crisis risk reduction and management,
normally a group or committee headed by a nominated government department. It is not possible
to be prescriptive about the members of the national body since each country is different, but the
committee is likely to be hosted by a top government department such as the Ministry for Home
Affairs / Department for Homeland Security at national level, or by a regional government body. In
most cases, representatives of key agencies such as police, health, transportation, public works and
city administration are involved.
Where crises affect (or are likely to affect) tourism, governments and industry bodies must ensure
that tourism stakeholders are included in crisis management planning alongside civil defence and
community response groups. However in some cases the priorities of public sector management
units do not align with tourism interests, as governments may focus on the magnitude of the
emergency in order to maximise international support, while the tourism sector will aim to
maintain business continuity by ensuring normal operations inunaffected areas aswell as restoring
services in the affected area.
In any tourism system, it is only the public sector which has the necessary resources, long-term
viewand balanced approach towards all stakeholders to provide the strong leadership essential for
the success of the tourism industry, including creating benefits for as many stakeholders as
possible. In recognition of this, the UNWTO (2017a) recommends that the national tourism
authority for each country forms an executive committee or task force responsible for risk
management in key areas. This can be hosted by the government ministry or other department
responsible for tourism or by a public-private sector partnership responsible for national-level
destination management and promotion such as a Tourism Board. In either case, there should be
strong representation by private sector associations, major companies and regional Destination
Management Organisations (DMOs), as well as the resident population of places directly or
indirectly affected by tourism through their jobs and livelihoods.
While governments need to provide the overall framework and leadership, individual tourism,
hospitality and leisure enterprises are the primary interface with the customer and must have
contingency plans in place for dealing with emergencies. Individual enterprises must also plan for
site-specific risks such as a fire on the premises or accidents affecting individual tourists.
Destinations hit by crisis events should address recovery in line with the six phases of the Crisis
Management Framework shown in Figure E.1. Initial leadership must come from the national (or
regional) disaster or crisis management unit, with follow-up led by the tourism authority’s task
force in close collaboration with local tourism operators.