This research book provides a strategic approach to understanding the nature of tourism crises and disasters highlighting the need for integrated crisis and disaster planning, response and long term recovery strategies. It will be essential reading for tourism academics and students as well as tourism managers and government officials involved in tourism management and marketing.

This book provides a strategic approach to understanding the nature of tourism crises and disasters highlighting the need for integrated crisis and disaster planning, response and long term recovery strategies. It will be essential reading for tourism academics as well as tourism managers and officials involved in tourism management and marketing.

Tourism destinations are traditionally dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises that provide a wide range of products to tourists such as accommodation, travel services, transportation, recreation and entertainment, and food and beverage services. New knowledge and global risks have emerged, and small and medium-sized tourism enterprises (SMTEs) are now highly vulnerable. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the whole world and caused a change in the tourism paradigm. Many SMTEs around the world have been severely affected by the need to completely shut down their activities for months, and expectations for recovery in the medium term are not optimistic. SMTEs do not have the capacity and increased resources—financial, human, operational—of large companies to prepare for crisis contingencies (planning) and respond to the challenges they face. They simply do not have the resources or knowledge for risk analysis and the creation of crisis teams or plans. This is an area of growing importance and concern, both in the public and private sectors, where specific research and more in-depth knowledge are needed. Risk, Crisis, and Disaster Management in Small and Medium-Sized Tourism Enterprises connects research in the field of crisis management with the risks affecting small and medium-sized tourism enterprises. The book presents prevailing research on SME-related planning, response, and recovery during crisis situations, further propelling much-needed literature on these challenges in today’s tourism industry. The chapters cover important topics such as terrorism threats, disaster management, resilient strategies, pandemic management, and risk analysis. The target audience of this book will be composed of professionals working in the tourism and hospitality industries, restaurateurs, travel agencies, hotel executives, directors, managers, crisis and risk planners, policymakers, government officials, researchers, and academicians who are interested in the threats to tourism businesses and how small and medium-sized enterprises can manage and navigate these risks.

The Asia-Pacific area is one of the fastest growing tourism regions and a major driver of global tourism in general. Tourism industries in Asia Pacific have been challenged in recent years by a number of major crises and disasters including terrorism, outbreaks (e.g. SARS and Bird Flu), natural disasters (e.g. tsunamis, bushfires, flooding), and political crisis (e.g. protests and political instability). This book contributes to the understanding of crisis and disaster management generally, but with a specific focus on the Asia Pacific. With contributions by international scholars and practitioners, the book discusses both the theoretical and practical approaches toward successful crisis and disaster management.

Recent global crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic have further emphasised the need for improved disaster management within the tourism industry, and with this in mind, the Handbook on Crisis and Disaster Management in Tourism fully addresses the importance of crisis and disaster readiness. This erudite Handbook brings together contributions from both leading tourism practitioners and scholars of a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, ranging from economics to hospitality, to showcase collaborative approaches to destination and business recovery.

Using examples from the UK, Europe, America, Australia and Asia, this book provides an analysis of the latest thinking and practice in dealing with extreme and sudden reductions in demand for specific tourist destinations or products. It shows that managerial responses, including problem solving and market recovery steps, vary in effectiveness and that recovery may be slow after initial problems are overcome.

An important challenge facing tourism is the anticipation of the threat of crises precipitated by natural and people-made catastrophes, and being adequately prepared for them. Despite an increase in research on this issue there is still a considerable lack of clarity on the impacts of crises on the tourism industry. Illustrated by a range of international case studies, this book provides a systematic and conceptual approach to questions such as how tourism businesses prepare for and react to crisis, which measures are taken and what impact they have, and which strategies can be employed to overcome them. By discussing, analyzing and synthesizing the literature on crisis management, the authors question how business can become more proactive in preparing and dealing with crises in the tourism industry.