Tourism in turbulent times: A crisis management approach to natural disasters

Abstract

Research to date has suggested Faulkner’s TDMF (Tourism Disaster Management Framework) and Ritchie’s (CDMF) Crisis Disaster Management Framework requires further testing and analysis of specific crisis such as natural disasters. This relates directly to the continued need for the tourism industry to understand and apply the optimal approach to dealing with a crisis, an understanding of which is still lacking. Although significant research has been completed in the field of crisis management for destinations, limited research has focused on tour operators. This paper focuses on tour operators as a specific sector of the industry, and aims to identify what form of crisis management strategies were utilised during a large scale natural disaster. Both frameworks propose six phases of crisis management: Pre Event; Prodromal; Emergency; Intermediate; Long-term recovery; and Resolution. An adapted model has been applied to Australian based tour operators in the context of the Indian Ocean Tsunami (2004). The use of Faulkner and Vikulov’s (2001) and Ritchie’s (2004) frameworks permitted an exploration of the challenges, actions and strategies employed by these operators. The results from these interviews identified a range of recommendations for tour operators, who were found to be deficient in appropriate crisis management measures.