Risk & Crisis Management in Tourism Sector:
Recovery from Crisis
in the OIC Member Countries
39
ministry such as a Directorate-General), as the central government bodywith overall responsibility
for establishing tourism policy and legislation, and a National Tourism Organisation (NTO) or
TourismBoard, whichmay be a public-private partnership funded largely by the private sector. The
Tourism Board may be connected with the Ministry, or it may be an autonomous body established
for the promotion of inbound international tourism and (increasingly) domestic tourism. In some
instances, this role has grown over time to encompass facilitation and coordination of tourism
services and the Tourism Board is effectively a Destination Management Organisation (DMO). It
should be noted there is some confusionover the termDMO: in some cases it stands for ‘Destination
Marketing Organisation’, and in others for ‘Destination Management Organisation’. In this report
‘DMO’ is used to refer to ‘Destination Management Organisation’.
A DMO generally operates at regional or local level. In the majority of cases they represent the
destination value chain, usually involving public and private stakeholders in terms of membership
and funding (UNWTO, 2011). According to an analysis carried out by Beaumont and Dredge (2010)
destination governance operated by DMOs falls into three categories, all representing some formof
network structure: led by the public sector; led by participants, including businesses and the local
community; and led by industry. The overarching role of DMOs in destination management makes
themkey to themanagement of any crisis, and in some cases theymay lead on developing the crisis
management plan.
Specific groups of private sector operators are represented in trade representation bodies such as
hotel, restaurant, or guide associations. These will liaise with the DMOs, and their representatives
should be included in crisis management planning.
The resident population of areas directly or indirectly affected by tourism through their jobs and
livelihoods, as well as the environment in which they live, are key stakeholders and should also be
included in crisis management and recovery. Their involvement may be through representation on
national or local level government or partnership bodies.
2.2.1. Stakeholder Roles in Crisis Management
The initial phases of dealingwith crisis situations are carried out by the national (or regional) crisis
or disaster management unit, while once the early stages of the crisis are over or under control the
NTO/TB/DMO will lead on the damage limitation exercise of arresting or reversing the decline in
arrivals (Upadhya, 2014).
While the primary concern for individual tourism businesses in areas affected by a crisis is their
own enterprise, it is essential for businesses to collaborate with each other and with the
NTO/TB/DMO in order to restore the market credibility of the destination and reverse the decline
in tourist arrivals. This awareness was confirmed by businesses surveyed for this study, with ‘quick
dissemination of information and good communications between industry colleagues’
spontaneously mentioned in the project team survey in eight case study countries as measures to
be taken by the tourism industry.
Despite the growth of direct booking via the internet and the associated rise of independent travel,
travel and tourism businesses still act as intermediaries between prospective tourists and