Tourism Risk Management - Sustainable Tourism Online

international awards for quality of product and service, there appears to have been minimal public
or tangible actions to address concerns regarding risk, safety and security.
Declining numbers once again saw a reduction in air services and routes. The locally established
Air Paradise airline collapsed as a consequence of mounting business costs. As the traditional
market base continues to change, the industry has strived to promote niche markets such as health
tourism and a more culturally based experience. For much of the travelling public Bali has now
become associated with the problems of greater Indonesia including political and social unrest,
terrorism and natural disasters. While the industry has supported local education, training and
scholarship programs, and strived to improve community cooperation and relations, continued
issues of resource use and environmental destruction undermine collaborative efforts. As the
people of Bali demonstrate remarkable resilience and persistence, the island still struggles to
recover from this crisis of consumer confidence.
Although Bali has yet to see a revival of revenues or tourism numbers, the second terrorist attack
reveals the value of learning from past experience. Whether or not as a consequence of improved
safety precautions, the bombing and subsequent damage was significantly reduced in the 1
October 2005 incident. Experience, networks and skills that had been developed assisted in:
• effective coordination of emergency response personnel and resources;
• establishment of an identifiable operations and media centre;
• identification of a credible spokesperson to brief the media;
• improved communications capacity utilizing honesty, authority and placing the incident into
the wider context; and
• greater integration of community, industry and government strategies.
While tourism and industry sustainability is yet to be achieved for Bali, their experience
demonstrates the value of awareness and the processes involved in risk and crisis management. It
should be a continuous, collaborative effort that all stakeholders strive to understand and improve.
Similarly, while tourism may seem relatively resilient, destinations and stakeholders must consider
and plan beyond immediate issues.
(Source: Bali Discovery, 2006; Bali SOS, 2006; and PATA, 2006)
Preventing Organized Crime
At the national level, tourism authorities can assist the actions of police and other agencies in
combating organized crime by supporting actions designed to prevent criminals and weapons
entering their country. This includes endorsing the use of control systems at airports and other ports
of entry.
Another measure in preventing organized crime is to identify the nature of violent or criminal acts and
to design relevant information campaigns for visitors and the domestic and international travel trade.
Organized violent crime is usually highly targeted, even though it may appear random.
When Mexico, for example, realized that it had crime problems related to automobile and coach
travel, it instituted a visitor police highway service, the ‘Green Angels’ (a fleet of radio-dispatched
trucks with bilingual crews operating daily to provide protection, medical first aid, mechanical
assistance, and basic supplies to travellers), and developed and disseminated information materials
for visitors on safe travel by car and coach in Mexico.
44 Tourism Risk Management – An Authoritative Guide to Managing Crises in Tourism