It’s the end of another summer season and tourism destinations are about to ask themselves the hard questions as they start to plan next year. What worked? What didn’t? What should we change for next year? It’s hard for some destinations to rise above the well-funded voices of the “biggies” like New York City, Orlando […]
Earlier this week, I taught two classes at the TTIA’s Tourism College at Texas State University. The program, in its second year, will lead students who participate all three years to a certificate called “Certified Tourism Executive” or CTE. While teaching the sophomore class this week, we examined a mock crisis in small groups. Our […]
There’s a crisis every day somewhere in the world and plenty of advice from marketing and public relations professionals on how organizations should handle communicating when they happen. But rarely have I seen an attempt to outline the supplies you need to have on hand before your crisis hits. When I was the communications director […]
It happens to every organization at some point. Something sudden and unexpected happens which requires us to act. In tourism organizations, it can be as simple as a weather event which affects daily operation. Or as complicated as an event like the BP Oil Spill. Most disasters fall somewhere in between, but the key to […]
Do no harm. This was the first thing I was taught about crisis planning, back in the mid-1980s way before cell phones and Twitter. Twenty-plus years later and it’s still the best piece of advice anyone can follow. It is an integral part of every crisis planning and crisis response session I teach. The second […]