Tourism Crises, Causes, Consequences and Management

Associate Professor Joan Henderson lectures in tourism at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and has developed a well-earned reputation for her incisive analysis of tourism crisis events in SE Asia. 

During the past few years and especially since the 9/11 attack in 2001 there has been massive growth in the output of academic literature in the field of tourism crisis management.

Henderson’s book is an invaluable contribution to the field of tourism crisis management. The writing style and organisation of this book is clear and easily comprehensible to undergraduate students of tourism and tourism professionals, yet there is sufficient depth to make it valuable to postgraduate tourism students and tourism academics. 

Henderson has written the entire book herself which gives it the benefit of stylistic consistency.

The key distinction between Henderson’s book and others dealing with tourism crisis management is her thematic approach to the subject making it an especially useful text for students and travel professionals.

Each chapter commences with learning objectives and finishes with discussion questions. With the exception of Chapter 1 (the introductory chapter), the theme of each chapter is illustrated by brief case studies amplifying the thematic points.

The introductory chapter outlines some of the major tourism crisis events since 1995 and the domains of tourism crises: economic, political, socio-cultural, technological and environmental. Henderson also illustrates the distinction between specific crises in each domain resulting from external and internal causes. She emphasises that the scope of a crisis will range from single business crisis (the collapse of an airline) to a global tourism crisis (the 9/11 attack). 

These points are not new but Henderson excels in presenting them with considerable clarity.

Chapter 2 focuses on economic tourism crises. Henderson examines the financial  costs of crisis events.  She also points out that government policy and private business practices can sometimes generate tourism crises and disadvantage destinations. The escalating cost of fuel, fluctuating exchange rates, a tendency on the part of a government to impose increasing taxes on tourists, have an impact on the cost of travel and the market’s  response.

The 1997 Asian Financial Crisis remains a fresh memory for many Asian countries which suffered significant tourism downturns as a result of severe disruption to the economies of SE Asia, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.  Industrial relations issues have the potential to create tourism crises.

Chapter 3 deals with the wide range of politically related tourism crises. These cover crises arising from the instability to tourism resulting from a democratically elected government imposing legislation which is disruptive to tourism to coups, riots, terrorism civil war or all-out cross border war. In her discussion on Myanmar/Burma Henderson also deals with the divisive issue of maintaining tourism to countries with ethically problematic regimes. She points out that there is a clear link between political stability in countries and the propensity of tourists to visit.

Chapter 4 discusses the issue of tourism and terrorism and Henderson does an admirable job of defining terrorism and its impact on tourism.  She correctly points out that terrorism by its very nature seeks global publicity and as a consequence tourists make ideal terrorist targets..

Chapter 5 deals with the theme of socio-cultural conflicts in tourism, the main outcome from a tourism crisis perspective being crime.

Chapter 6 focuses on environmental tourism crises and is one of the most interesting chapters in the book. Natural disasters are significant tourism crisis generators. In recent years Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans 2005 and the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 stand out as examples. However, man made environmental degradation, pollution, oil spillages and climate change and sea-level rise are insidious but powerful generators of longer term crises for tourism destinations.  Joan Henderson refers to many of these issues.

Chapter 7 covers health-related crisis events. In this chapter Henderson discusses some of the major health threats to tourists and methods of prevention. She has written extensively on SARS and in this chapter mentions the 2001 Foot and Mouth outbreak in the UK and SARS in 2003 as health threats which evolved as tourism crises because of the nature of media coverage. In common with most tourism crisis management specialists, Henderson is keenly aware of perception as a significant element in tourism crisis. She provides some very challenging examples including cruise-borne illnesses, sexually transmitted diseases, outbreaks of legionnaire’s disease which arise from poorly maintained air conditioning and food poisoning, a common treat to all global travellers.

Chapter 8 focuses on the theme of technological failure. IATA and the aircraft industry have been art the forefront of effective crisis management practices ever since powered flight commenced in 1903 because of the inherent (albeit slight)  risk that aircraft may crash. All forms of transport share the risk of fatal accidents on land and sea which would prove a crisis for the company involved and arouse fear of using that mode of transport. However, static objects are not risk-free. Hotel fires, computer crashes, fair ground “fun rides” which go wrong are all potential crisis generators. 

Chapter 9 addresses the issue of commercial crises which can range from business malpractice by a single company and its ripple effect thorough to international economic recessions which could result in a widespread fall in demand for travel as occurred during the 1997 Asian Economic Crisis.  

The affordability of travel is dependent on a range of variables including overall cost of living levels, income levels and the cost of travel itself which is influenced by fuel costs, government taxes, the cost of technology, salaries of tourism industry staff, hotel rates etc. Some of the crises covered in this chapter relate to individual businesses and others to destination regions. Many tourism businesses are struggling to survive due to changing business practices, the proliferation of the internet as a marketing tool and the rise of low cost carriers.

As a single example, travel agents who have not adapted to the fact that airlines and hotels are seeking to cut them out of the distribution chain or reduce commissions, will fail unless they change their business model and practices.

Chapter 10, the book’s final chapter, addresses the theme of crisis management. Henderson draws on the literature and the work of major tourism industry organisations to identify the best practice approaches to the management of tourism crises.  She stresses the importance of alliances and partnerships and the critical issue of preparation and contingency plans to best deal with a crisis event from the outset.

Henderson does not provide detailed analysis of the many cases she discusses but gives sufficient information for the reader to gain a basic understanding of the key issues. She then directs the reader to the many sources from which she has drawn. The reference list at the end of each chapter demonstrates her extensive research in tourism crisis management. Readers seeking more depth in specific cases and themes can investigate these sources.

In attempting to cover such a broad topic there are themes in which Henderson displays variable mastery, understandable when a single author writes a thematic tour de horizon of a vast topic.

Joan Henderson’s book should be an essential reference for tourism and hospitality businesses, associations and destination marketing organisations. Its readability is a breath of fresh air compared to some academic books in this field. Henderson clearly understands that knowledge and communications  are linked.

A review by David Beirman