Disaster Risk Management for Coastal Tourism - Caribbean Hotel ...

Disaster Risk Management For Coastal Tourism Destinations Responding To Climate Change
A Practical Guide For Decision Makers
1.2
Target Audience
The Handbook is principally recommended for addressing coastal tourism
destination and community disaster risks. The primary target audiences are
therefore:
Local level decision-makers, planners and managers: including
communities – and who therefore must be in the forefront of community
preparedness planning.
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Staff at local disaster management agencies: with major responsibility,
authority and resources for preparing destinations against the effects of
natural hazards, yet who must also be sensitized to the key vulnerabilities
and disaster risks to coastal tourism communities.
Tourism destination planners: who require an appreciation of natural
disaster risk and exposure of the tourism plant to climate-induced
disasters.
National planners: with responsibility for macro- and spatial planning – a
group that features most prominently in mainstreaming climate change
adaptation strategies at the national level.
Other tourism organizations, associations, economy and sector planners and
managers, communication specialists and especially members of the media, will also
for preparedness planning.
All users of the Handbook will need to appreciate that effective disaster risk
reduction is predicated upon a system of comprehensive, integrated, nation-wide
cooperation and preparedness planning. In particular, the lessons of post-disaster
events should be a continuous source of learning for local communities, in order to
achieve real and demonstrable improvements to destination resilience.
1.3
Organization and Content
As noted above, the Handbook adapts tested practices in disaster risk reduction to
community level preparedness at coastal tourism destinations. Whilst it could also
support training exercises, this is not its primary objective. It neither comments on
of risk assessment. The Handbook serves rather, as an important implementation
guide to decision-makers in the tourism industry and should be used alongside other
technical resources. The Handbook is structured so that in a relatively concise form,
it provides information on key issues that arise in discussions with stakeholders
addressing coastal tourism risks, preparedness planning, and disaster reduction.
change, disasters, and tourism.
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