Risk & Crisis Management in Tourism Sector:
Recovery from Crisis
in the OIC Member Countries
37
2. MITIGATION STRATEGIES AND ACTIONS
Due to the frequency of crises and the institutional learning which has taken place through efforts
to deal with them, techniques of crisis management have evolved over the last two decades from a
reactive, top-down approach to a form which seeks to be proactive in reducing the occurrence of
crises, to minimize the negative consequences of those that do occur, and to hasten recovery times
through swift and effective actions. This section will follow the structure proposed by Faulkner’s
2001 crisis (or disaster)management framework, as discussed in Section1, in outline actionswhich
should be taken, and it will also consider the role of different stakeholders in crisis management.
It will nowbe considered how tourismcrisis management should be integratedmore generally into
an overall approach to Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR).
2.1. Tourism Crisis Management and Disaster Risk Reduction Strategies
Many countries have a national system for DRR and for dealing with crises or disasters, normally
headed by a nominated government department. It is not possible to give a categorical blueprint
for the structure and composition of these agencies, groups or committees, since they vary from
country to country. Examples include theDepartment of Homeland Security in theUSA, theNational
Disaster Management Authority in Pakistan, and a division of a government law and justice
department in Australia entitled ‘Emergency Management Australia’. In Britain an emergency
committee of various government officials is constituted as soon as a crisis occurs, with its
composition dependent on the nature of the crisis. Germany takes a regional approach, with the 16
states of the federal republic responsible for rescue services, fire-fighting services and crisis control
(both natural and technical disasters). Inmost cases, representatives of key agencies such as police,
health, transportation, public works and city administration are likely to be involved.
The Hyogo Framework for Action, developed by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction in 2005,
formalised this approach to DRR, acknowledging the role of governments and international
agencies and detailing the responsibilities of different sectors and stakeholders in order to build the
resilience of nations and communities to disaster and reduce the social, economic and
environmental losses caused (UNISDR, n/d).
The principal steps of national-level DRR entities are to:
1. Set up an institutional framework to be activated in times of crisis
2. Appoint members fromdifferent government agencies (with private sector representation,
as required) with a designated officer to act as the institution’s spokesperson
3. Identify risks which could lead to crisis
4. Plan a set of policies, procedures and strategies to guide the actions to be taken when a
crisis occurs. Such procedures and actions need to be clear and comprehensive but flexible
enough to respond effectively to the specific needs of different crises.