2016 3 2 1 Martens
2016 3 2 1 Martens
2016 3 2 1 Martens
Introduction
“The significance of a crisis is that one unlucky incident can destroy the
good image of a company which has been built up by years of Public Relations
work” (Mathes, Gärtner and Czaplicki, 1991). Nowadays, criminal activities
and threats from instable situations are continuously influencing the daily life.
Especially in tourism their relevance is increasing significantly (Glaesser,
2003). The tourism industry, like no other industry, depends on the creation of
favorable images in order to sell their products. It cannot be seen or touched
before purchasing it (Salazar and Graburn, 2014). Consequently, the only way
for a potential tourist to assess the quality of a tourism product is to rely on the
image that he has about it. Crisis situations can negatively impact this image of
a tourism destination (Sausmarez, 2007).
In order to analyze, how crises affect the tourism market at a destination
and how tourism managers should react to this, a theoretical basis consisting of
Lecturer, Cologne Business School, Germany.
‡
Research Assistant, Cologne Business School, Germany.
†
Professor, Cologne Business School, Germany.
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Crisis Management
Before breaking down the details of crisis management, the term crisis has
to be classified according to temporal aspects and to the nature of the crisis.
According to Sausmarez (2007) crises can be ranged in three time periods:
Potential crises are threats that might occur in the future. They are neither
ascertainable, nor are they already existent. Nevertheless, they have to be
identified and considered in order to be able to prepare accordingly for the case
of an imaginary crisis becoming reality. A latent crisis on the other hand is
already occurring. It is a critical situation that is existent, but does not yet have
a measurable negative influence. Once a critical situation has turned into an
acute crisis, its destructive effect can be clearly perceived and measured.
Ritchie (2004) differentiates the speed of crises developing. Immediate crises
do not allow for organizations to prepare. Emerging crises develop slower, can
be predicted and measures can be taken by involved organizations.
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of crises creates a significantly higher loss of image and loss of faith than
natural catastrophes (Glaesser, 2003, Sausmarez, 2007a and Gundel, 2005).
Laws and Prideaux (2005) additionally proposed the local division of crisis
management: On a regional level, a crisis has effects on the region itself and
potentially also on the nation. On the national level, its effects are significant
for the tourism industry. Finally, on the global level, a crisis can have a
significant impact on tourism flows. As tourists seek for substitute locations
whenever they perceive a destination as not being safe, local crises can have an
impact on the global tourism industry. Hence, the local division of crises is not
further considered for the purpose of this paper.
Crisis management in general can be described as “measures of all types
which allow a business to cope with a suddenly occurring danger or risk
situation in order to return as quickly as possible to normal business routine”
(Scherler, 1996). Like the types of crises themselves, crisis management can
also be classified according to its function as well as temporal aspects. Firstly,
crisis management can be seen as an institution or as a function. Crisis
management institutions are organizations or action groups within
organizations, who are responsible for developing strategies for potential crisis
management. In general, all stakeholders involved in the tourism product are
responsible for crisis management in order to reduce the negative effects of a
crisis. As a function, crisis management describes the actual implementation of
an action plan as well the adaption of existing tasks and business processes in
the case of an acute crisis (Glaesser, 2003).
Secondly, the temporal occurrence of crisis management can be either
active or reactive. Active crisis management is describing the proactive
prediction of a future catastrophe, the development and implementation of
prevention measures and the preparation of an action plan for accurate action
steps in case of a crisis. Therefore, active crisis management concentrates on
potential crises (Waller, Lei and Pratten, 2014). Moreover, active crisis
management can have a greater effect on emerging crises than on immediate
crises because the negative impacts are not so dominant yet, research on
potential measures can be conducted and actors have the time to implement
such measures (Ritchie, 2004). It can be further divided into crisis precautions
and crisis avoidance. Firstly, the precaution measures have to be planned and
implemented. Secondly, measuring negative effects in an early stage of the
crisis and adjusting the action plan accordingly might avoid a potential crisis in
the case of a threatening situation (Glaesser, 2003).
Reactive crisis management on the other hand concentrates on already
occurring, latent or acute crises. It is defined through coping with negative
influences that a crisis has already had and that have already been identified by
employing appropriate crisis management instruments (Waller, Lei and Pratten,
2014). Breaking reactive crisis management further down, it can either be
offensive or defensive. Once a crisis has occurred, institutions and action
groups have to decide, whether they aim at implementing their measures at an
early stage of the crisis or whether they await the development of the crisis
before they become active. Handling a crisis offensively has the advantage,
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that the possibility of eliminating the cause of the crisis and minimizing
negative effects is high. Nevertheless, an accurate preparation is crucial for the
success of an offensive strategy. Adopting a defensive crisis management
strategy can be reasonable in situations, where it is likely that the early
implementation of measures might intensify the situation. Nevertheless, this
approach is likely to decrease trustfulness and credibility of the crisis
management institutions, since they give up their role as the leading
information provider (Glaesser, 2003). Figure 2 summarizes the previously
mentioned classifications.
Source: Own illustration based on Waller, Lei and Pratten, 2014, Glaesser, 2003
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Hence, news and media are one important information source influencing
the destination image, since they inform the public about present political,
economic and social events, which have an influence on the destination
(Glaesser, 2003). Especially in crisis situations unfavorable images about the
political, economic or social situation at a destination are distributed all over
the world through numerous media channels (Glaesser, 2003, Kesi and Pavli ,
2011). Consequently, even people, who do not fear threats from political and
social instabilities at a specific location, will receive negative news and will be
affected by this negative publicity. By getting the impression, that the
destination is not safe to visit, potential tourists will exclude the destination
from their list of places considered for a visit (Glaesser, 2003).
Without doubt, the safety aspect is of remarkable importance when it
comes to tourism destination image and the decision-making process about
whether or not to visit a location. The tourism product is mostly intangible and
cannot be inspected or tested before purchasing it (Salazar and Graburn, 2014).
Besides that, it is also diverse and complex, consisting of a combination of
numerous different service providers and organizations. The distance between
the location, where the product is purchased and the location, where the service
actually is provided, as well as the complexity of its composition makes it
difficult for potential tourists to assess the quality of the purchased tourism
product in advance (Glaesser, 2003). Hence, marketing a tourism destination
highly depends on the creation of favorable images (Salazar and Graburn,
2014). As the impression of the safety at a destination is a crucial decision
making factor (Raina, Zhao and Gupta, 2010), tourism providers have to
reduce their customers’ uncertainty and risk perception (Glaesser, 2003).
Methodology
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Finally, out of the 26 studies, 19 studies were used for the overview of
stakeholder approaches to crisis management.
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Araña and León (2008) focused their study on the short-term impacts of a
crisis. As a business case they analyzed the 9/11 terrorist attack in the United
States. They found, that previous research primarily focused on the long-term
effects on tourism demand in the region affected by the crisis, but not on
immediate micro-effects of the terror events on the tourists themselves. As
tourists prefer to travel to safe and tranquil destinations their main goal is to
minimize the risk of becoming a victim of a terrorist attacks (Neumayer, 2004,
Reisinger and Mayondo, 2005).
Sönmez and Graefe (1998) explored the relationship between the
destination choice process and terrorism risks. They found out, that there are
significant similarities between the definitions of tourism and terrorism.
Terrorism is defined as crossing international borders, targeting citizens of
many nations and making use of international travel and communication
technologies (Schlagheck, 1988). A slightly modified version of this definition
could also be applied to the concept of international tourism (Sönmez and
Graefe, 1998).
What was widely recognized among the reviewed literature is the division
of crisis and disaster management into three phases: pre-crisis, crisis and post-
crisis (Hystad and Keller, 2008, Sausmarez, 2013). This separation is also used
in the stakeholder approach in table 1. Hystad and Keller (2008) conducted a
long-term study on the effects of a forest fire disaster on the tourism industry.
Based on this study they developed a model for crisis management. They
identified a media management and marketing strategy, communication and
coordination with emergency organizations and tourism businesses as the most
important tasks previous and during a disaster.
According to Xu and Grunewald (2009) crisis management can be
organized in three steps. The first step is disaster prevention and planning. The
proactive crisis management contains the development of coping strategies.
Furthermore, an awareness strategy is developed to generate cognition of the
vulnerability and capability for all parties involved. In the second step,
strategic implementation and resolution, the key point is an effective
stakeholder collaboration. Each stakeholder needs to be made fully aware of its
role under critical circumstances, so that effective coping strategies and
resource management approaches can be put into practice. Thirdly, evaluation
and feedback on the current crisis are used to be able to prepare for further
crises. Furthermore, re-investments have to be managed to create more resilient
surroundings and to boost the confidence in the affected region.
Hayes and Patton (2001) developed an approach for the design and
implementation of proactive crisis-management strategies. Their strategic
approach includes four steps: Strategic dimensions, risk assessment, crisis
management organization and operations and crisis resolution and recovery.
The key elements of their approach are the identification and evaluation of
risks, approaches for appropriate action in disaster situations and effective
communication strategies.
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Conclusion
It has to be noted that the tourism sector like no other sector relies on the
promotion of favorable images, since the tourism product is intangible (Salazar
and Graburn, 2014). In general, in crisis management it is important to develop
a problem-solving action plan that combines all stakeholders’ interests and
activities (Raina, Zhao and Gupta, 2010). Active crisis management is aimed at
proactively predicting a future crisis, developing and implementing prevention
measures and preparing an action plan for accurate steps in case of a crisis
(Waller, Lei and Pratten, 2014). However, the equal integration of all
stakeholders is mostly difficult, because the government controls all business
activities through policies and regulations and therefore plays a more important
role than other market participants (Glaesser, 2003).
Nevertheless, private institutions are able to support the effective, conjoint
management of a crisis through several activities: In order to avoid the
collision of interests between their political interests and the interests of
companies and institutions they support, they should focus on cooperating with
private institutions that are not dependent on governmental support. To sustain
a positive image cooperation and integration of the media is of vital
importance. Further, most articles and studies on crisis management in tourism
do not mention the role of the local community. In this approach all
stakeholders are considered and table 2 shows guidelines, threats and potential
for and of possible actions of the different stakeholders. This can be used as an
overview for destinations in political crisis situations. However, as every
political crisis has its specifics, the table merely provides a supportive
overview. Final decisions and requests for action can only be made knowing
the specifics of the crisis and the stakeholders in the crisis situation.
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Table 2. Results from Actions and Required Actions of Tourism Stakeholders in Case of Political Crises
Results from Actions Required Actions for Proactive Crisis Management
Stakeholders (1)
Threats Potential Pre-Crisis During Crisis Post-Crisis
Media shapes the Provide correct and
Media can even turn an Provide information and
audience’s view on the consistent information Provide correct and
incident into a crisis report about the
conflict, makes to the public and consistent information
(2); impacts improvement of the
Media information available enhancing the image of to the public and
immediately visible (3); situation at the
(4); potential to spread the organization or deliver precise reports
Focus only on destination. Support
a feeling or safety and industry sector faced (5)
circulation figures image rejuvenation
security with a crisis (5)
Subsidies for Rescue procedures,
Include effects on the
unaffected can be emergency
tourism industry in
counter-productive (6); Government measures: accommodation, food Government measures:
crisis planning. Collect
Tourists expect tax incentives, special supplies, medical tax incentives, special
knowledge from other
protection by import provision to services, monitoring import provision to
crises situations (13,
governments and the stimulate foreign and communication stimulate foreign
Public Sector 19) Enforce crises
industry, but are investment, tax relief, systems (9); investment, tax relief,
preventing measures
responsible for their extended credit to Cooperation with other extended credit to
(14). Support
own decisions and businesses, increased governments and businesses, increased
foundation of
actions (7); threat of funding (8) foreign offices funding (8)
federations and
lobbying and political (standardize travel
associations (15)
restrictions (14, 15) information)
Warn and or prepare Handling visitors; get Marketing and
Private sector: develop
Long-term difficulties visitors; offer away from short-term promotions are key to
new products and
lie in restoring the alternative destinations; profit focus leading to assisting a tourist
Private Sector markets (8) High
reputation and image of raise awareness on cost reductions, instead destination to recover
resilience of the
the destination (10) potential actions (15, invest in peace after a crisis or disaster
tourism industry (11)
18) promotion (15) (10)
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Reference List
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