Risk & Crisis Management in Tourism Sector:
Recovery from Crisis
in the OIC Member Countries
146
6.4.4. Intermediate Recovery Phase
Once the immediate crisis is over, business owners andmanagers can focus on limiting the physical
or reputational damage to their business. Key steps are to:
 Communicate and collaborate with other businesses locally, since they may be in the
same situation. A coordinated response will be more effective in getting positive
messages across than for businesses to work alone. In principle the local or national
trade association, tourism board or DMO should by now be putting their own pre-
prepared plan in place (as discussed in Section 6.2). The agency responsible is likely to
be gathering facts and figures so that it can relay factual and consistent information to
any local or national hotline, and will also be seeking ‘good news’ stories to feed to
bloggers and other social media outlets.
 Reciprocally, the lead government agency should have up-to-date information on
aspects such as the current state of the crisis, for example the extent of floods, which can
be relayed by businesses to their customers. They should also have developed positive
messages to reassure the public that even if the situation has not yet returned to normal,
as soon as it does the destination will again be ‘open for business’.
 Most members of the public are aware nowadays of the extent of ‘fake news’ on social
media, and also that messages (whether true or false) can travel very fast, and therefore
businesses need to circulate their own information. It is essential that these messages
are honest: there is no point in trying to encourage visitors if their welfare, security or
enjoyment will be impaired.
 Messages should be optimistic and focus on positive aspects of the location, for instance
any attractions or facilities that are available or the stories of individual tourists who
are enjoying a holiday in the destination post-crisis. Whatever difficulties business
owners themselves are experiencing, they should not share these with customers. The
only exception might be for customers who already know the business well and perhaps
make personal enquiries as to the situation; they may be prepared to help in ways that
new customers would not. For instance, after the 2004 tsunami guest-house owners in
Sri Lanka reported being given direct financial assistance by former customers aware of
the hardship experienced by local communities; the same happened after the Nepal
earthquake of April 2015.
 In some cases, businesses may quickly be able to access new markets in order to ensure
business viability and continued economic benefits to employees and the supply chain.
For instance, after the 2004 tsunami, undamaged hotels in Sri Lanka and Thailand were
able to provide facilities to the large number of aid workers and volunteers who arrived
to help with recovery.