Risk & Crisis Management in Tourism Sector:
Recovery from Crisis
in the OIC Member Countries
73
After being caught out by lack of planning for the first Bali bomb crisis, the government’s
response to crisis recovery quickly evolved, with several major initiatives including a ‘Nine Steps
to Tourism Crisis Recovery’ programme put in place by the then Minister of Tourism and Culture,
Jero Wacik, in the aftermath of the 2009 bombing of the JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels in
Jakarta (Jakarta Post, 2009). Drawing on experience in handling previous crises (most notably the
Bali bombing in 2002), the initiative set out a suite of 9 actions to be implemented post crisis. It
will be noted that the actions mirror those covered in previous sections of this report. The
actions are shown in Figure 4.3 below.
Figure 4.3: Indonesia’s ‘Nine Steps to Tourism Crisis Recovery’
1. Establish a Media Centre: Initiative to include appointment of professional PR consultants
with international media and tourism industry contacts; regular communication with media to
present accurate and up-to-date information.
2. Check Tourist Movements following incident
3. Take Emphatic Action: Identification and inspection of incident site. Establish extent of
damage and loss.
4. Localise the problem
5. Communications with Stakeholders: Importance of good communications with all tourism
stakeholders in Indonesia and in international source markets.
6. Familiarisation trips: ‘Seeing is believing’. Organise familiarisation trips to key tourist
locations in Indonesia for media, tour operators, and celebrities.
7. Road show: Undertake road show to include presentations to tour operators and tourists in
international markets.
8. Image Restoration Campaign: Secure additional budget for image restorationmedia campaign
in key markets.
9. Event Organisation: Organisation of programme of events at national and regional level.
The current Crisis Management Scheme for Tourism involves a sequence of 3 steps: Information
monitoring; Crisis decision; Follow-up decision (as shown in Figure 4.4 below). Following an
analysis of primary and secondary data in the first step, the Crisis Management Team
determines whether or not a crisis exists. If it is decided that it does exist, the team implements
action under the following headings:
1. Action 1 – PR: The goal is to provide accurate information and reassure visitors and
localise the issue. This activity is undertaken by the media/PR section of the Ministry of
Tourism.
2. Action 2 – Impact Analysis: Each year, the Ministry sets-out a target for international
visitors. The impact of the crisis on visitor numbers is monitored closely. Other metrics are
also monitored including length of stay, visitor expenditure and hotel occupancy levels. On
completion of the impact analysis, the Crisis Management Team advises on appropriate
interventions.
3. Action 3 – Crisis Centre: Establish a Media Centre at the crisis location.