Tourism Management

1. Introduction:

The purpose of this report is to discuss the impact that crises have upon tourism destination areas. This report analyses the influence that the exposure of the crisis can have on the area and describes methods in which management can implement to overcome the situation. The report provides an overview of crises, effective management methods, impact of exposure and illustrates how crises can stimulate innovation. To exemplify these areas examples of crises well also be incorporated.

2. Overview of Crises:

A destination crisis incorporates a number of different aspects and as yet no specific definition has been established. Beirman (2003) developed a definition through integrating a number of different definitions. Beirman (2003 p.4) defined destination crisis as,

ЎҐA crisis is a situation requiring radical management action in response to events beyond the internal control of the organisation, necessitating urgent adoption of marketing and operational practices to restore the confidence of employees, associated enterprises and consumers in the viability of the destination.ÐŽ¦

From this definition it can be seen that manages of tourism organisations need to be able to cope and adapt to changes beyond their control quickly and efficiently. The external factors that can not be controlled and are highly unpredicted, these can either be man-made or natural disasters, can have enormous affects upon the tourism industry (Page 2003, p.353). Therefore, for organisations to overcome these crises they need to be highly adoptable to change.

Destination crises can occur in a variety of ways, for example: (Beirman 2003, p.6)

Ñ"ж International war or conflict

Ñ"ж Terrorism

Ñ"ж Criminal act or crime wave

Ñ"ж Natural Disasters- earthquakes, storms

Ñ"ж Health concerns- diseases, outbreaks, (animals or people)

When crises like these occur they can have negative impacts upon tourism destinations. Examples of destination crises that clearly identify how they have negatively impacted the destination area include:

Ñ"ж America- September 11 terrorist attack

Ñ"ж Israel- Breakdown of peace between Israel and Palestine

Ñ"ж Australia- TasmaniaÐŽ¦s Port Arthur Massacre

Ñ"ж United Kingdom- Foot and mouth disease outbreak

These are only a few tourism destination crises which have occurred however they illustrate the impact in which a crisis can have upon an area. The examples mentioned all process a number of common aspects (Beirman 2003 p.7). The common aspects comprise of:

Ñ"ж Downturn in tourism numbers to the destination

Ñ"ж Created fear and concern for tourists

To effectively and efficiently overcome a crisis situation, marketing strategies are needed to restore the tourism market.

3. Effectively Managing a Crisis:

For an organisation to successfully manage and overcome a crisis they need to have an understanding of the four steps that need to be undertaken (Beirman 2003, p.23). The four steps enable organisations to determine the different methods that need to be implemented to effectively and efficiently overcome the crisis situation.

3.1 Step 1: Identify the problem/event

To determine if tourism destinations are under the threat of a crisis situation, management needs to address specific questions. Through considering these questions it provides organisations with an indication of the impact of the crisis.

Examples of the questions as stated by Beirman (2003 p.23) include:

Ñ"ж Does it have potential to be threatening to the safety of tourist employees

Ñ"ж Will this event/problem be negatively published and portrayed in key source markets?

Ñ"ж Were or will tourists directly be affected?

Ñ"ж Is there a local sense of political urgency regarding the prospects of the tourism industry?

Through answering these questions organisations can than determine the full extent of the crisis and begin to develop methods to overcome the crisis.

3.2 Step 2: Establish a crisis management team

To effectively manage a crisis situation several teams should be established as well as determining the key roles of each team (reference). In managing a destination crisis area there are a number of elements incorporated.

A few of the elements as discussed by Beirman (2003 p. 24-25) include:

Ñ"ж Media and public relations

Ñ"ж Relations with the travel industry

Ñ"ж Destination response coordination with the local tourism and hospitality industry

After identifying the extent of the crisis situation, management needs to be able to:

Ñ"ж Innovate

Ñ"ж Manage and adapt to change

Ñ"ж Manage, recruit and continually provide high quality

Ñ"ж Develop competitive business ventures through understanding economic, social, political and managerial challenges of enterprises

If management obtain these skills and incorporate the elements than the crisis situation should be overcome successfully and proficiently.

3.3 Step 3: Promoting the destination during and after a crisis

The way in which the destination is promoted depends upon the duration of the crisis (Beirman 2003, p.35). The duration of crises can either be short-term or long-term in nature.

If a short term crisis occurs than the methods to be undertaken include:

Ñ"ж Suspend