Disaster recovery responses of transnational tour operators to the Indian Ocean tsunami

Abstract

This article examines how transnational operators respond to crisis management and disaster recovery. An adapted model of Faulkner and Vikulov's (2001) six-stage framework was applied to Australian-based tour operators, in the context of how they responded to the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. The findings suggest that the tour operators coped well through having reactionary crisis management responses; however, insights into the impacts their decisions had on the tourism generating regions provide opportunities for improving future preparedness mechanisms.