What we learned of failed to learn from September 11, 2001
October 2002
There ought to be little doubt that September of 2001 was a watershed year for much of the tourism industry around the world. A year has now past. During this past year terrorism or terrorism cells have been discovered in diverse nations such as Colombia, England, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Spain, Tunisia and the United States. These are just a few of the nations that have suffered from the plague of terrorism. In some cases, terrorism has deeply affected the local tourism industry; others have so far been lucky to escape terrorism’s full effects. How has terrorism changed the face of the travel and tourism industry. What have we learned from the putrid actions of September 11th and what lessons have we failed to learn? Here is a brief summary of the past year and a checklist for you to consider.
Lessons learned:
The travel and tourism industry learned some hard lessons this year. Here are but a few.
- Be flexible. September 11th taught the travel/tourism industry that flexibility is a key component to survival in unstable times. Flexibility means that we do not become so tangled in rules and regulations that we are incapable of thinking outside or the box. Tourism and travel has learned to develop new marketing techniques and how to create innovative packages. For example, some parts of the industry have discovered ways to use security as a marketing took rather than as a necessary expense.
- Be credible. One thing that 9-11 taught the tourism industry is that the public wants more than talk regarding travel safety, it wants actions. That means that the tendency to apply spin will no longer work in a post September 11th world. Instead tourists, travelers and guests are demanding that the tourism/travel industry do what it promises. More and more we are seeing visible security in places other than airports. At least some of these security professionals are better trained and better prepared.
- Understand that that good service is the basis of good security. The last year has taught travel and tourism professionals that the better the customer service the better the level of security. Workers who do not care about the way they look, how they speak, and what their actions are, cannot be trusted to provide good security.
- Look at details. All too often we forget the importance of small details. People, however, who pay attention to detail are highly likely to notice something out of place or something askew. The paying attention to details forms the building block of safety. The key here is to look at the details once we develop the innovative program. Success comes from blending innovation with detail.
- Develop employee loyalty. Our employees are people too. During times of stress they need ways to release tension, be angry, express fears etc. Indeed everything that our guests are feeling employees is also feeling. Tourism/Travel industry managers learned that the more loyal the employee is the greater the chance that he/she will go the extra mile for both the customer and for his/her employer.
- Cuddle your customers. Too many people lost customer loyalty by cutting back on services. During downtimes this is when smart companies develop brand loyalty by providing extra services especially to their best customers. Many of the airlines, unfortunately, have chosen the opposite path. The result has been an increase in corporate jet travel, in car travel on short trips, and a turning away from the full service airlines to the discount carriers.
- Develop a good relationship with law enforcement. The events of September 11th taught the tourism industry that there can be a positive relationship between security professionals such as police officers and their business. For this relationship to work, both sides need to have training in the way the other works its goals and how it defines success.
Unfortunately we in the tourism and travel industry have a few other lessons we still need to learn. Here are some of the most important lessons we should have learned from Sept 11h but we failed to learn.
- Travelers have alternatives. If we believe that travel is a no-fail industry then we are sorely mistaken. High prices, poor service and lack of safety can destroy even the best travel market.
- Travelers want safety not only from terrorism but also from crime. There is still too many people who believe the old fairy tale that tourists are afraid of tourism security forces. The reality is that tourists, visitors and travelers like being around people in uniform. Perhaps no nation understands this ideal better than Canada, which promotes its Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer as a national icon.
- Crisis management means the failure of good risk management. The cheapest and most efficient way to handle a crisis is not to have it. Good training and preparation means knowing what to do when the problem arrives and being smart enough to prevent it from becoming a crisis. The question that tourism and travel professionals need to ask themselves is not what is the cost of training, but what is the cost of a negative headline.
- Some of us still do not understand that good security is good marketing. Too many people in the tourism industry have decided that there was 9-11 and post 9-11. In other words, that this was a one-time event. No one knows this to be true. If there is another terrorism attack and you have not prepared, shame on you! Pray/hope that there will never be another attack, but prepare as if further attacks are a certainty.
Below is a post September 11th checklist for you to consider.
- How have I tightened up the security at my locale?
- Do my employees see themselves as part of the security team?
- Is there employee loyalty within the company?
- Have I improved customer service in the last year?
- Has my site’s training program been increased?
- Where has the company/CVB cut back? Is this cutback sending the wrong message?
- Have we conducted a vulnerability study since September 11th?
- Have we established a security team that includes people from the media, from government and from all aspects of the industry?
- Have we established a listing or risks (both natural and man-made) and do we have a plan to implement should that be necessary?
- What type of tourism security demographics does my entity keep?
