Dealing with Natural Disasters Before and After
October 2004
The recent bad weather both in the Caribbean and in much of the Asian Pacific area ought to be a wake-up call to everyone in the tourism industry that theirs is a very fragile industry that is often weather dependent. Often, tourism economies and profits are at the mercy of Mother Nature. For example, Hurricane Frances chose one on the worst weekends to strike: the Labor Day Holiday, which in the US marks the end of the summer travel season. For many in the tourism industry, this one of those make or break weekends. Unfortunately, we cannot control the weather or climatic conditions, but it is a good idea to prepare for earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes/typhoons before they happen. Here are some suggestions that may help not only with climatic problems but also with man-made problems such as a terrorism attack.
- Develop plans before the disasters occur. Waiting until a hurricane strikes is too late to begin to take action. Develop a pre-emergency plan. This plan should be multi-faceted and should include caring for those who may be hurt or sick during the calamity, finding shelters for visitors, determining who is and is not staying at hotels, creating communication centers and a recovery business plan and marketing plan.
- Create good working relationships between private businesses and government agencies. Before a disaster strikes, make sure to know the names government officials to whom you may need to turn to. Go over your plans with these people and get their input prior to the crisis.
- Do not forget that disasters are often opportunities for crime. Make sure that the police department is part of the disaster plan, not only from the perspective of law enforcement but also from the perspective of public relations and economic recovery. What your police department says and how it acts toward visitors may impact your recovery and local tourism industry for years to come.
- Do not forget that law enforcement agencies do not often communicate well with each other. Most people outside of law enforcement simply assume that there is a good working relationship between various federal, state, provincial or local law enforcement agencies. Often this is not the case. If the media report a lack of cooperation during a period of crisis this will reflect poorly on your community. Furthermore, most police agencies are not trained in tourism oriented policing and have no idea as to how to handle the special needs of the tourism industry during times of crisis.
- Develop a protocol for addressing classified information. For example, in case of emergency, will hotels cooperate on allowing the names of guests to be released? If so, under what circumstances? When should health records be released and what is the responsibility of the local tourism industry regarding privacy versus public health issues?
- Develop a protocol as to who may need a security clearance. During times of the disasters, all sorts of legal clearances may be needed. Once the disaster has occurred, it is too late to begin to sort out legal issues. Develop a list now and obtain the necessary clearances during periods of calm. In a like manner, go over with your public health people what policies will be in place if a policy of triage should have to be implemented.
- Develop a visitor public health policy. In case of flooding, earthquakes or other natural disasters all sorts of new problems may arise. Visitors may have lost medication and not be able to obtain replacements, some people may not want particular medical problems to become part of the public record. Visitors will have higher levels of anxiety than if they had been at home and we may expect to see greater levels of stress-induced medical problems.
- Know or have a plan if your tourism industry covers a regional or multi-jurisdictional area. Whenever possible, develop a code of conduct and a working relationship between agencies, hotels, restaurants, emergency shelters, and other relief agencies that cross city, county, provincial or state boundaries.
- Make sure that you have good toll-free telephone or Internet service and publicize where visitors can go to use these services. Visitors will want to call out and their loved ones will want to call them. As soon as possible, establish some form of free communication. Visitors will never forget this act of hospitality.
- Use your customer service skills and hospitality skills to take care of the first responders and emergency teams. These people will be overworked and often on the point of exhaustion. Recognize that they are not in the hospitality business, you are! Use your skills to ease their burdens and to help them help us.
- Begin long-term recovery programs immediately. These long-term programs should go far beyond simply marketing the area or providing lower prices. The program should also include such things as working with mental health professionals and establishing support facilities for visitors who happen to be survivors. When the visitor leaves the impacted area he/she will continue to suffer from the natural disaster. Get names, email addresses and telephone numbers and make sure that your visitors receive follow-up calls. These calls should never sell anything but simply let visitors know that your agency cares about them.
