Building Tourism Resilience

Resilience is surely the topic of the hour, particularly in Sri Lankan tourism circles following the Easter attacks. Sri Lanka was in fact an example drawn up at the recently concluded Asian Resilience Summit held in Kathmandu, Nepal. Organised jointly by the Global Travel & Tourism Resilience Council and the Nepal Tourism Board, the summit is the first in what is hoped to be a continuous series of resilience-focused events to be held in Asia over the coming years.

Australia’s Market Development Facility (MDF) was at the summit in May, looking for insight on how best to continue our work in supporting Sri Lanka’s tourism recovery. The program works in tourism and related sectors in Sri Lanka.

The summit presented a wealth of information on building resilience in tourism, driven by Nepal’s rebuilding efforts following the devastating earthquake of April 2015. We share below four key areas that could be of use to Sri Lanka’s tourism sector: some of this can be applied to the post-crisis context, while some would be useful for future crisis management.

The defining motto for good crisis comms is “One narrative, one voice"

Crisis communication

Crisis communication is a business best practice that can be planned for in advance, as well as implemented during an actual emergency. It is a layered approach on
how to build a narrative around a potential or ongoing crisis and applies to a set of actions taken during and after the crisis, and the steps required to ensure that the message coming out of your organisation is exactly what you want it to be.

There is no real way to predict the nature or exact timing of a crisis – natural or manmade. However, having a plan in place helps. For this, a business can look at:

The actual message – What will you say?

While there is no real way to predict an emergency, the business can prepare the type of message that can be communicated in the case of one and decide on who would deliver it (e.g. CEO, Head of Corporate Communications, General Manager, PR rep). There is also value in having a backup plan if the designated person is unavailable (See ‘Action’ below).

Timelines – When will you say it?
An established communication timeline can provide guidance during the crisis, keeping in mind that regular official communication from the business can help reinforce the message. Here, the narrative would differ according to the ‘stage’ of the crisis – during or after. It is also important to determine what stage of the event is to be considered the ‘end’ of a crisis to determine the flow of the narrative.