Crisis management for the tourism sector: Preliminary considerations in policy development

Crisis management is increasingly being applied in the context of tourism and, although there has been some research into crisis management at a macro-level, most of this focuses on the response to, rather than the anticipation of, a crisis. This paper explores the issues associated with the establishment of a crisis management policy for the tourism sector prior to a crisis and especially considers the management of the pre-crisis period. The areas addressed include the evaluation of the importance of the tourism sector to the economy, risk assessment and then the challenges presented by the identification and monitoring of indicators, aspects of implementation and funding of a policy, and the development of a crisis plan. It suggests a model to clarify the different components that would need to be addressed for the establishment of a policy and how they relate to each other. It concludes that to develop an appropriate policy would be extremely complex and questions whether or not the maintenance of the tourism sector in a healthy state would not be a more efficient use of time and resources.