Tourism crises and island destinations : experiences in Penang, Malaysia

Crisis management and tourism is attracting increasing attention as an industry practice and subject of academic enquiry, not least in South East Asia which has been affected by a number of severe crises in recent years. However, organisations are not always well prepared and response strategies can...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ghaderi, Zahed, Mat Som, Ahmad Puad, Henderson, Joan C.
Other Authors: Nanyang Business School
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2013
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/97478
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/11830
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
Description
Summary:Crisis management and tourism is attracting increasing attention as an industry practice and subject of academic enquiry, not least in South East Asia which has been affected by a number of severe crises in recent years. However, organisations are not always well prepared and response strategies can be deficient. The paper discusses issues of tourism crisis management with specific reference to the popular Malaysian destination of Penang. Findings are based on qualitative research consisting of semi-structured interviews with industry leaders from assorted sectors. Tourism in Penang emerges as vulnerable to regional and global events which act as a trigger for tourism crises, demanding a response in which various strategies are employed. The destination is also seen to recover fairly quickly from experiences of crises, but a well designed and formulated tourism crisis management plan under the stewardship of the public sector is necessary to mitigate further damage in the future.