Disaster Risk Management For Coastal Tourism Destinations - DTIE
Disaster Risk Management For Coastal Tourism Destinations - DTIE
Disaster Risk Management For Coastal Tourism Destinations - DTIE
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<strong>Disaster</strong> <strong>Risk</strong> <strong>Management</strong> <strong>For</strong> <strong>Coastal</strong> <strong>Tourism</strong> <strong>Destinations</strong> Responding To Climate Change<br />
A Practical Guide <strong>For</strong> Decision Makers<br />
6.4<br />
Public Outreach and Education<br />
The public should always be kept informed and educated as progress is made in<br />
the formulation and implementation of the plan. Too often, disaster management<br />
planners underestimate the importance of public education and outreach. <strong>Tourism</strong><br />
communities have multiple interests who also need to be educated about plan<br />
objectives and requirements. It is especially important to educate the participating<br />
groups and their membership regarding the integrated plan.<br />
Educating communities about the disaster preparedness plan is distinct from the<br />
internal communication procedures and requirements needed between agencies<br />
(horizontally) and within the disaster management hierarchy (vertically).<br />
6<br />
A public outreach and education program for the disaster preparedness plan should<br />
consider the following points:<br />
<br />
<br />
Develop a Public Outreach Objective And Strategy: This should be a clearly<br />
<br />
aligned with the overall community-based disaster management strategy.<br />
The purpose is to ensure that the outreach efforts are effective and can be<br />
digested and transformed into concerted action by the community for all<br />
phases of the disaster management cycle.<br />
Identify Target Audiences: The tourism industry is multi-stakeholder and<br />
multi-sectoral based. There is therefore a variety of potential target recipients<br />
who will need to be informed and educated on the disaster preparedness<br />
plan. Some of these targets include:<br />
- Hotel & resort owners, managers and workers;<br />
- Cruise ship, terminal and pleasure craft operators and workers;<br />
- Industry contract carriage and other operators e.g. tours, attractions,<br />
transportation (air, sea, land), diving, entertainment, food and beverage etc.;<br />
- Tourists;<br />
- <strong>Tourism</strong> industry associations;<br />
- Local population;<br />
- Adjacent and residential communities including schools;<br />
<br />
Each target group may require differently structured information and messages. Be<br />
alert to their particular communication needs in order to focus the outreach exercise.<br />
<strong>For</strong> example, ensure where necessary that the messages are multi-lingual for the<br />
spectrum of visitors at the destination. Use also an appropriate combination of<br />
signage and pictures for the messages to be conveyed to the illiterate or to those<br />
who do not speak the native language.<br />
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