With Omicron and messy fiascos like the Novak Djokovic - Australian Open saga, you might be tempted to think that Covid 19 pandemic disruptions won't be letting up anytime soon to allow tourism to recover. But there's hope we'll learn from past mistakes. A look through the lens of how government and the media have historically dealt with tourism crisis can inform us of the variables that lie ahead for the industry.
Dr David Beirman is a tourism crisis, risk and recovery expert from University Technology Sydney whose views have been highly sought after by both local and international media. His new book, Tourism Crises and Destination Recovery, looks at some 20 cases of comeback from crisis in the tourism industry, including a whole section on the current pandemic, to give us some perspective to the challenges the industry is facing today.
Quotes from this episode:
"One of the interesting things about COVID-19 overall has been the incredible level in which government has dominated every aspect of the agenda.... And that that's had a huge effect, of course, not only on tourism, but pretty much every aspect of our life."
"Cruising, in my humble opinion, has been given a really, really difficult time by governments... and the thing that makes it so unfair is that the cruise sector has probably done more to try and minimise the risk of COVID-19 than probably any sector in all of the tourism and hospitality industry."
"There were pictures of people in Hong Kong running around in surgical masks. And in Singapore, the reality was 95% of the cases in Hong Kong actually occurred in five apartment blocks. The media never mentioned that."
-Dr David Beirman
Don’t miss:
- Reasons to be optimistic about tourism in 2022.
- Does Australia have an image crisis after the Novak Djokovic saga?
- The PR mistake the cruising industry could have avoided.
- How airfares could change to make the aviation business viable again.
- Key lessons from 20 cases of tourism crises and recovery.
- The media's relationship with tourism and how it treats crisis stories.
- The pragmatic way destinations can reopen their borders for tourism recovery.
David's book:
Tourism Crises and Destination Recovery
Connect with David:
LinkedIn: David Beirman
Email: David.Beirman@uts.edu.au
Connect with Adelaine:
Email: uponarrivalpodcast@gmail.com