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if the Unthinkable Happened |
By Bert van Walbeek, HOTEL Asia Pacific Columnist
June 2003
We live in ever-changing times, where consumers are increasingly aware, lawyers are ever more litigious and the media increasingly willing to expose any weakness in a hospitality organisation or tourist destination. A company or region in the midst of a crisis cannot completely control these factors, as events in Asia Pacific have demonstrated loud and clear over the past 12 months. However, sufficient preparation and effective management can take the edge off the above factors. Companies and destinations are now realising that they not only have a moral obligation, but also may need to take a legal stance to be prepared to cope with incidents that involve their clients. Planning, though critical, is not the only component. Training, conducting drills, testing procedures and providing additional external resources are other important functions. By doing the above, organisations can go a long way to emerging from such incidents with their reputations and/or corporate image intact. The lessons learned in Bali are manifold and must be now used to prepare other destinations, as well as all their stakeholders � including hotels - for future crises. In essence, the following �components� are required in order to handle any crisis situation effectively:
Few crises will seem as dramatic as New York or Bali - unless it is your own. When your crisis occurs, the hardest part of dealing with it can involve answering the public call for information - as personified by a TV correspondent or newspaper reporter who shows up on your doorstep or on your telephone line to get the story. How well you respond depends on how well you are prepared. While the existence of some of the above components may be based on the assumption of the pre-existence of a structured and experienced emergency services (police, fire and ambulance), this would be an unrealistic expectation. in many situations. However, there are still some basic steps that governments/regions can look at in order to enhance their level of preparedness. This involves the triad of:
The focus of the training sessions must be on senior and intermediate levels of management, with the aim that, by the end of the course, all those attending will be knowledgeable about the following : Stage 1 : Before the Crisis
Operational response is essential � it�s the one that saves lives, property and other assets. The ability to communicate is no less important - it�s the one that saves the business. The simple fact is: perception is reality, and public perception of your company's reaction to a crisis is as important as your operating response. There are no clear boundaries with any crisis. There is rarely a single moment when one can say an incident or issue has transformed into a crisis. Crisis-management experts recommend adopting a low threshold when defining a crisis, erring on the side of caution and assuming that a small episode can escalate into a crisis at warp speed. The repercussions and impact of crises in tourism is manifested across a series of stakeholders. To avert mismanagement of crises and its consequences, organisations and destinations need to enhance their capacity to understand and respond to crisis situations. We all need to sharpen our skills at predicting
and preventing such situations.
Bert van Walbeek is MD of The Winning Edge, a Thailand-based company which provides crisis-management services to tourism destinations and hospitality and tourism organisations. Contact: [email protected] © Copyright HOTEL Asia Pacific |
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