Tourism Crisis Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Tourism Crisis Management - Essay Example Many authors have attempted to give meaning to the word crisis or crisis management and consequently come up with synonymous terms to the crisis (e.g. Pender & Sharply, 2004; Faulkner, 2001; Prideaux et al., 2003; Pizam, 1999; Glaesser, 2003). Prominent examples, for instance, are a catastrophe, turning point, disaster, chaos, vulnerability, security. This diversity of terminologies considered, it is apparent that crisis definitional approach is a difficult undertaking. With reference to PATA (2003), a crisis is defined as â€Å"A circumstance that holds the potential to have a long-term effect, impinging on the confidence in a product or an organization, or rather a situation that may alter the ability of an organization or product in resuming normal operations.†Other authors provide vague sentiments on the term. For instance Ritchie et al. (2004: 202), who bluntly indicates that ‘a crisis is indefinite, unpredictable, unexpected and can be numerous’. On the othe r hand, some authors seem to be more diligent and particular in their semantics, Faulkner (2001: 136), for example, distinguishes both the terms crisis and disaster. He debates that a crisis refers to a circumstance ‘in which the root cause of the event is, to some degree, self-inflicted through problems such as inept management organizations and organizational culture or a failure to adapt to change’, while on the other hand, a disaster can be described as a situation ‘where an organization †¦ is encountered with abrupt unpredictable calamitous changes over which it has little or no control.’’ Main theories Many models conceptually have a basis assuming that a crisis goes through a number of consecutively occurring stages, in essence following a particular life cycle. However, in reality, crises and disasters more often than not occur suddenly, without warning and a target position can immediately enter the ‘emergency’ phase, by-pa ssing the ‘prodromal’ and ‘pre-event’ phase and require- in a rapid reaction. Indeed, the alarm caused by the dramatic imminence of such events may prompt inappropriate decision making and confusion(Pender & Sharply, 2004). Explicitly, various models propose that risk assessments should be undertaken. On the basis of the analysis of