Tourismus in der Krise

 Unter http://nepaltraveladvisory.blogspot.com/ gibt es einen Blog, der regelmäßig über die Sicherheitslage und die Relevanz für den Tourismus in Nepal berichtet. Schön übersichtlich, mit Karte potentieller Gefahrenpunkte. So macht www Sinn.

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 Taiwan recently announced in the trade media that it was a safe tourist destination. Their claim, based on the low level of crime in the country, was timely as it appeared soon after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Promoting itself as a safe destination was a bold move by Taiwan and signals an important change in tourism marketing.

Safety is increasingly seen as a competitive advantage for tourism destinations; well at least those destinations that can legitimately substantiate the claim. In their 2008 Country Brand Index the PR and marketing firm FutureBrand listed the top 10 destinations for “safety” in order as: Norway, Switzerland, New Zealand, Sweden, Denmark, Canada, Monaco, Belgium, Austria and Australia. 

Dear Angelica
I deeply regret not going to the movies with you last Thursday as scheduled. Something came up on short notice. I hope you still had a nice evening and I'm looking forward to still be considered for further movie nights. 
Best regards,
Daniel 

Now be honest: How successful would I be if I wrote such an excuse after blowing a date? I imagine it would deepen the conflict rather than defusing it. Okay, if Angelika isn't really my type, at least I can now be sure that she won't call me anymore.
This example, however, is custom in the business world. A plane is late and the announcement of the captain goes, "We regret the delay and hope you'll consider us again for your next travel plans." It's for situations like these that the term "Low Performance" was invented. 

UPDATE: TERRORIST ATTACK ON MUMBAI - ALL TOURS ARE RUNNING

The recent high-profile terrorist attack on Mumbai is, regrettably, a sign of our times. In recent years we have witnessed similar attacks in many parts of the world, including Bali, Madrid and London, to name but three. The fact that such an attack has now occurred in Mumbai should not be construed as a sign that India is any more a hotbed of terrorism than Spain or England. Indeed, it could be argued that it is likely to be safer given the heightened security that will doubtless be put in place. We have reviewed our current programme and at this stage we have no plans to cancel or change any of the tours as a result of these events. Nevertheless, we will continue to monitor the situation and heed advice issued by the Foreign Office. Should that advice require us to amend or cancel any of our published tours, we will do so without hesitation.

http://www.darjeelingtours.co.uk/

 In the aftermath of the carnage in Mumbai, there are critical lessons to be learnt. This article advocates for a disaster management plan to be consciously integrated into the Indian Hospitality industry.

To create an atmosphere of insecurity in the country: a visit to the grocer maybe as safe/dangerous as that to the Taj. 

There are lessons to be learnt from the experiences of others. While Spain used a 'business as usual' approach in recovering from its terrorist attacks, Tunisia used 'counter messages' inviting tourists to create peace. Essentially, in due course and with correct marketing the image can be changed to a favorable one. It is our belief that there would be a recovery in due course as every destination at some time of its existence faces a threat from either a natural disaster or one through malevolent human action, as was the case in Mumbai.

Perhaps the need of the hour is the formulation of a framework for disaster management for the hospitality industry.

best accepted definition is by Selbst who defines a crisis as 'any action or failure to act that interferes with an organisation's ongoing functions, the acceptable attainment of its objectives, its viability or survival, or that has a detrimental personal effect as perceived by the majority of its employees, clients or constituents.' In relation to tourism, Faulkner considers the principal distinction between what can be termed a 'crisis' and a 'disaster' to be the extent to which the situation is attributable to the organisation itself, or can be described as originating outside the organisation. Thus, a 'crisis' describes a situation 'where the root cause of an event is, to some extent, self-inflicted through such problems as inept management structures and practices or a failure to adapt to change', while a 'disaster' can be defined as 'where an enterprise... is confronted with sudden unpredictable catastrophic changes over which it has little control'.

There is a need to capture the experiences of the hotel staff and the measures they employed in guiding their guests through this dark hour.

The security, especially, at the entry points and perimeters needs to be strengthened so that an easy walk in like at Mumbai is not replicated in future. Security should be supported by latest technology.

A sophisticated communication system needs to be in place.

International security standards and guidelines that are well defined and internationally accepted should be evolved at this juncture by the international community. A case in point is the ISO 27001 and 27002, which are the international best practice information security management standards, defining and guiding Information Security Management System (ISMS) development. These will provide the necessary benchmarking for individual users to know the type of cover and the responsibilities that are defined and provided by that institution for its guests. Most importantly, training, to staff needs to be regularly imparted in dealing with such situations. . 

 Tourism stakeholders’ preparedness and effective and accurate communication are among the key factors to substantially mitigate potential negative impacts of crises on tourism. UNWTO’s emergency response portal www.SOS.travel provides a link for the entire tourism sector, destinations and ultimately consumers. This portal tracks all kinds of major natural and manmade disasters – weather, pandemic, terrorism, and the like.

 Die Ziele von Auslandreisen werden durch Krisen stark beeinflusst / CMT in Stuttgart gilt als Branchenbarometer.

Wie Seismogrpahen reagieren die Touristen auf Störungen; das zeigen die von der Dresdner Bank regelmäßig zur CMT in Stuttgart vorgelegten Zahlen. So sind Reisen in islamische Länder längst nicht mehr so beliebt wie früher: Terroranschläge und Bürgerkriege vermiesen die Reiselust. Im vergangenen Jahr hat nach Muntzkes Beobachtung auch der Karikaturenstreit eine Rolle gespielt und - im Fall der Türkei - die Vogelgrippe. Um 20 Prozent sind die Einnahmen der Türkei von deutschen Touristen abgesackt.