Risk & Crisis Management in Tourism Sector:
Recovery from Crisis
in the OIC Member Countries
49
(The Economist, 2013). Further examples of such policies will be given in Sections 4.2 (Turkey),
4.4 (The Gambia), and 5.4 (Sri Lanka).
3. Human Resource Development
Continuing efforts to increase professionalism in tourismand hospitality through capacity-building
is essential, particularly to ensure that local people have the skills to access jobs at all levels of the
industry. A specific need in terms of preparing for and recovery from crises is to train frontline
personnel interfacing with tourists and the media in safety and security procedures. A cadre of
managers and other personnel with appropriate linguistic, technical and social skills should be
selected from across the sector and trained in the safety and security arrangements in place in the
destination, in how these will be enhanced in the event of a crisis, and in ways of communicating
these to the public.
In its ‘Toolbox for Crisis Communications in Tourism’, the UNWTO (2011) stresses the need for
personnel in the destination’s crisis management team to be fully aware of each member’s
responsibilities, the team’s strategy and procedures, and how to communicate with key audiences.
Training of core personnel should be carried out at least once per year, with new personnel in key
roles fully trained as soon as possible on appointment.
4. Image Rebuilding and Repositioning
During this phase there is a need to address market perception of the destination (or a business in
the case of a localised issue affecting it) through imagemanagement, and in some cases to reposition
the destination in the public mind.
Most prospective tourists draw their knowledge of a destination from a variety of sources,
principally word-of-mouth (either from personal contacts or through social media), and travel
media advertisements and features. Any news of disruption to tourism in a destination will
inevitably create apprehension about its safety and ability to provide enjoyable experiences (in
the case of leisure visitors), or to facilitate intended business tasks (for the business traveller).
Rebuilding trust in the affected country can encourage a return to higher business levels.
Methods can include articles written after familiarisation trips arranged for journalists and
bloggers, or webcams positioned in key locations showing in real-time that the area is safe and
pleasant to visit. Messages in this category often emphasise the low levels of everyday crime on
the streets and the friendliness of local people.
Research was carried out by Walters and Mair (2012) into the effectiveness of marketing
messages after bushfires in 2009 in the Gippsland region of Australia destroyed tourism
facilities and created anxiety in the public mind about visiting the area. The themes and
messages tested on survey respondents are shown in Table 2.2 below: