See World Tourism
Organization: Table: International
Tourist Arrivals 1950-2005
In the span of this same generation,
the world has witnessed traditional media and telecommunications
evolve into a global medium where people feed, relay and consume news
nearly instantaneously. Whereas traditional media reported,
summarized and editorialized to an unknowing audience, the “news”
element is already in the public knowledge thanks to social media and
instant telecommunications today. Details and in-depth reporting is
often too late to influence the already formed opinions drawn from
140 character tweets and smartphone pictures posted on Instagram
during the course of a crisis.
See an interesting
study by the Pew Research Center: What
Facebook and Twitter Mean for News
The greatest damage to a destination
occurs immediately… as the worldwide audience is watching it
unfold live. While the effects may be felt days or weeks later, the
damage has already been done. Crisis management serves as a crucial
emergency centre during these times, but a plan must be in place
first in order to be effective when and if needed. In this way,
crisis management acts similar to an insurance policy for events that
hopefully will never take place. Large companies including most
airlines have dedicated crisis management teams; however, it is
neither practical nor cost-effective for smaller organisations to
maintain staff specifically for the task.
Fortunately, the most important
element of any crisis management strategy is… communication,
which a stakeholder of any size can leverage. While instant
communications like tweets and Instagram pictures so quickly shape
public opinion as crises develop, the same avenues of communication
are also the most effective means for tourism stakeholders to enter
the conversation and manage the effects as soon as possible.
In practical terms… all
stakeholders must have the following: a detailed crisis contingency
plan, a resource guide for employees, and the ability to delegate
decision-making and communications to those best suited to respond
during a crisis event.
Odds are slim that the person leading a
crisis management effort will be easily accessible at the most
critical of times, therefore the chosen resource guide book for
employees should be both effective and adaptive in ensuring that best
practices prevail. The guide should offer concise and adaptable
instructions so that no employee is caught desperately searching a
lengthy index to find a simple answer. As American English is the
most widely understood language by the global audience, consider
using it as the language of choice.
The next step is to select, build and
train a crisis team. Keep in mind that most experienced and senior
staff may not be on site, or they may remain unreachable far into an
unfolding crisis. Therefore, the best candidates for a local team
should be those already adept at utilizing social media. Regardless
of their work experience or placement, they should be motivated team
players who can be trusted with important responsibilities. Of
course, they should be able to communicate in basic English;
additional they will require some training in crisis management to
ensure that order, not mayhem, prevails.
Instead of an arduously written,
lengthy, post-event press release… that is often viewed
skeptically, build a crisis response plan which serves as a
foundation to mitigate negative effects and build credibility in this
age of powerful and immediately information. Digestible and accurate
communications from coordinated sources distributed throughout the
course of a crisis are the key to successfully mitigating their
consequences.
Vorawan &
Associates is a consultancy particularly well learned on the subject
of political crisis management for the tourism industry. Do not
hesitate to contact us with your questions or inquiries.
