Risk & Crisis Management in Tourism Sector:
Recovery from Crisis
in the OIC Member Countries
51
in love with New Orleans all over again”. For event organisers – a major segment for the city – the
byline used was “New Orleans, just as you remember it”.
Similarly, although not in response to a particular crisis, Japan recognised that it needed to
reposition itself as far as the Muslim market was concerned in order to attract this growing
segment. According to Som et al (2016) it was perceived by Muslim travellers as an unpopular
destination due to language barriers, cultural differences, the strength of the Japanese currency,
and the distance from primary Muslim markets. Japan responded to these concerns with a more
open approach to Muslim tourism through easing visa entry requirements and targeting 1 million
Muslim tourists for the 2020 Olympics.
For countries where tourism is operating normally but which are located in areas perceived to
be in political turmoil, the task of image-building is a continuous one. Jordan is a case in point.
Its marketing aims to reduce the perception of risk and highlights information aimed at
increasing tourists’ confidence in its ability to perform. It uses webcams, testimonials from on-
the-ground tourists, and familiarisation tours for travel writers (Liu et al, 2016). Ongoing
messages from a variety of sources, regularly refreshed, are essential to building and
maintaining credibility. However, as Carlsen and Hughes (2008) point out, while safety and
security are fundamental requirements for the market’s positive perception of a destination,
projecting safety and security as marketing themes can be damaging for a destination’s image
should subsequent negative events/incidents occur.
Generally speaking, it is essential for countries to ensure that they retain full awareness of their
key markets and how these are reacting both to the crisis and to marketing messages carried
out in the recovery period, since this will help them shape appropriate messages (Fall and
Massey, 2005). They can do this by surveys, focus groups and scanning relevant travel forums
and blogs and the travel trade media.
5. Market and Product Diversification
In terms of the resilience cycle discussed in Section 1, the crisis represents the ‘release’ event which
breaks the mould of their tourism model, creating opportunities to develop in new directions
according tomarket trends identified through research. Emerging trends andnew travel trade links
can be more readily exploited at this stage than when tourism was growing from established
markets and segments.
International tourism remains dominated by the advanced economies of Europe, North America
and East Asia. However, the past two decades have also seen rapid growth fromChina, Russia (and,
to a lesser extent, other former Soviet-bloc countries), and MENA countries. These markets are
becoming increasingly sophisticated and diverse (World Travel Online, 2017; ITE Travel &
Tourism, 2016; Jin and Sparks, 2017) and can represent a useful focus for diversification in periods
when traditional markets are deterred by crisis events. Little research has been carried out into
more resilient markets, although Ndregjoni and Billa (2010) found that tourists who were highly
motivated to travel were less likely to be anxious about risks, while Nugraha (2016) confirmed that