Example Of Risk, Crisis And Disaster Management Essay

Risk, Crisis, and disaster management are factors that call for attention from all stakeholders involved in the welfare of the tourism and hospitality industrial sector. It is because this is a core industry in the world in which it contributes a significant percentage of the world’s economic development. Risk refers to the probability of something occurring that will have an effect on objectives. Disaster on the other hand refer to the serious disturbance of the functioning of humanity causing extensive human, material, or losses in the environmental which exceed the capacity of the pretentious communities to cope by means of their own resources (Rittichainuwat, 2006). Crisis, on the other hand, is any situation which has the prospective to shake long-term confidence in an institution or a product, or that may interfere with its capability to continue normally functioning.Question (i) Factors influencing the level of risksPoor managerial skills In the tourism sector, poor management has contributed a lot in risks associated with crisis and disasters in the field. These hazards may include terrorist attacks and tourist attacks by wild animals. The tourism sector should ensure there is enough security personnel in the field to curb any chance of attack either by terrorist or animals. It has costed the sector a lot, and it should be looked upon. The national government should also assist in this by increasing the number of security personnel in this industrial sector. The managers recruited should be capable of the job by ensuring that they are highly qualified.
The risk perception in the tourism sector Different scholars have provided their perceptions by this idea. They include; Ritchie, B. W., & Campiranon on their articles based on perceived risk tourism. They argue that, this has been an influence as tourism is concerned because the parties involved have been having different views on the activities that are done in the sector. Perception of risk occurring is a key consideration in decision making as tourists are concerned. If there are rumors that there are high chances of an accident or any risk occurring before they arrive at their original destination the visitors will change the destinations to other places hence the industry will incur some losses. It is a crisis which will affect the whole industry. Higher perception leads to decreased demand hence this factor can be curbed by ensuring there is a good image portrayed, as the sector is concerned in order to encourage and attract more tourists. In order to curb this, the tourists who are tolerant should be promoted, and this perception should be dealt.Failure of other governmental sectors for example health sector The health sector has been costing the tourism industry in the sense that they have been failing to prevent the occurrence of some infections. For example, the swine flu and Ebola epidemics, The health sectors in the globe should establish ways which can help prevent intensive spread of this kind of diseases. When these epidemics occur, they lead to death of visitors in the national parks more so the swine flu which is contaminated from birds to human. They also lead to losses in the industry because the tourists will change their destination to epidemic free areas hence affecting the economic development of some countries. It has been supported by some texts by Dornicar on responsibility of health sector on tourism issues, 2007, where he argues that both sectors must cooperate.General tourism characteristics According to (Ritchie, 2009), tourism is a sector which cannot be compared to other enterprises because it involves a lot of risks which accompany it. It involves labor intensive activities, and it has to practices high customer care services in order to win the attention of their customers. This sector depends on other sectors that if they fail the entire tourism industry will be affected including the hospitality department and any event that depends on the visitors as a source of income. For example, if the airway department fails the tourism sector will incur losses which can lead to estrangement of employees in the sector. All the sectors should be well organized in order to avoid costing each other.Question (ii) Risk treatment optionsa) Visitors role in risk mitigation In accordance with Rooney article consumer perspective, 2007 visitors play various roles in mitigating risks to their health, safety and security during their visits in order to help in mitigating some of the health risks, they drive carefully by observing some of the underlying traffic rules which are beneficial to their health like not driving under the influence of drugs and substances which may impair their thinking. In addition to this, they are also cautious when operating machines in the restaurants where they stay and ensures they don’t move them under any form of intoxication of the mind. Visitors do take part in some of the disaster preparedness practices like drills and trainings on evacuation processes. It has proved a very effective way of saving lives in case of any disaster or crisis in their respective accommodation areas for instance outbreaks of fire which has been reported from various hotels (Ritchie, 2008). Majority of tourists on vacations have proved effective use of the material safety data sheets in the substances they use which are unfamiliar to them. It has reduced various risks to health like the accidental poisonings which have further aided in risks reduction. It has additionally helped in a reduction in the consumption of unsafe foods and drinks which could be detrimental to their health (Ritchie, 2008). Visitors’ biometric registration has as well helps in the mitigation of risks of insecurity situations this was the argument that Ritchie based on his article. It has eased the work of hotels in personal identification of visitors, and this has been effective in the control of various forms of crimes which are both risks to the tourists and the hotels at large (Ritchie, 2008). Wide percentage of survey has indicated reading and following of instructions provided in various hotels where the tourists live. It has helped in lessening the instances of reported dangers and accidents from visiting restricted places which are noted out of bound to the visitors.Finally, a great role of the tourists notable to mitigate health crisis has been the mass vaccination at the port before they border flights to their respective areas of trips. It has helped in the self-protection from some common infections existing at the scheduled place of the visit. It has helped in a reduction of the cases of flues and has conversely also reduced the spread of new infections to the area of visit (Rooney, 2007).(b) Risk assessment Cox on his article based risk analysis on risk, 2012 argues that risks must be assessed in order to know how negative it has been affecting the sector. The following are the risk assessment steps that he provided.Step 1: category of the issue; health safety and control issues Health safety and control Act range is very extensive and is typically self-evident that a concern or subject of alarm is predominantly one of occupational health, safety, and welfare. Such issues or subjects of apprehension arise through; intelligence on fresh hazards for instance from new technologies, or insufficiencies in existing preparations to cope with adjustment, e.g. in the design of employment; pressure of actions and experience on basis of statistics of misfortunes and ill health and reports of inquiries into certain incidents; public insights that there is a challenge to be addressed.In summary, when issues are controlled under health and safety law, it leads to careful concern of all the aspects involved, such as the ones outlined above.Step 2: Definition and characterization of the issue In this stage, the issue is framed or explored in terms of hitches to be undertaken and the means of tackling such. The issue can be framed either way, leading to quite diverse problems to be undertaken by different branches of the Government regulatory machine. To some points, the risk assessment is a simple process grounded on observation and verdict, whereas at the other extreme also requires the utilization of complex methods such as quantified risk assessment. In the exercise, it cannot be conducted without adopting some conventions or protocols (Cox, 2012).Step 3: Examination of the available options and their merits After characterizing the options available for dealing with the risks are identified. These ranges from undertaking nothing to coming up with measures which are regulatory or non-regulatory to get rid of the source of the problem in a satchel, or to reduce it to the one which people are ready to live with so as to safeguard certain benefits and in the self-reliance that the risk is one which is worth taking and that it is appropriately controlled. For instance; provide more facts and direction to duty holders to make them able to fulfill their duties.Step 4: Adopt decisions The review of all the information collected in the previous step with a sight to selecting the most suitable option for handling the risk is done. The key to the realization depends on a large extent on safeguarding as far as conceivable that interested parties are contented with the procedure for reaching conclusions and, hopefully, also with the resolutions themselves. They are contented, for instance, about: how uncertainty has been addressed, plausibility of assumptions made and the way other relevant influences such as technological, economic and political deliberations have been integrated into the decision-making course (Cox, 2012).Step 5: Implement decisions After reaching the decision on the degree to which a hazard should be controlled, a decision is made on how the decision can be implemented practically using the regulatory implements at disposal, for example recommend new laws, invite new management or take execution action. The responsibility for actions for controlling a risk falls on the individual who creates it or the one who is in a position to do something about preventing or reducing it (Finger et al., 2009).Step 6 Evaluate the effectiveness of action taken Finally, to ensure that risks are correctly managed, assess decisions after an appropriate interval to institute: whether the schedules taken to safeguard that the risks are sufficiently controlled stemmed to what was intended; if or not decisions formerly reached need to be improved and, if so, in which way; for instance, because levels of defense that were well thought-out at the time to be good (Cox, 2012). Health and safety controls’ decision-making course practice is never considered as such as a result of fresh knowledge, improvements in technology or alterations in the level of societal trepidations; how suitable the information collected in the first two steps of the decision- making course assist resolutions for action, for example the methodologies utilized for the risk assessment and for the cost benefit analysis if at all prepared, or the conventions made; whether upgraded knowledge and data will have helped to reach improved decisions; which lessons could be cultured to guide future supervisory decisions, increase the decision-making course and create better trust between operators, regulators and those affected by, or have an interest in, the hazard problem (Finger et al., 2009).(c) The need for risk treatment Many scholars have provided discussions on this issue in which their arguments places a fair ground on which risks should be managed. These scholars include Ritchie, Rooney and Stafford based on their articles based on tourism risk management they recognize this as an important factor. The industry of tourism and hospitality is one of the most susceptible industries to crises. More than previously, crises are becoming much frequent and complex, touching the hospitality industry among other related industries. Functioning 24 hours in a day, hotels qualifies to be a soft target for criminal activities and terrorists. Thus, it is safer to be well equipped to overcome and alleviate the potential effects of such man-made or natural crisis events. Marketing the terminus as being less expensive might not motivate tourists to visit risky destinations. Moreover, safety and security are some of the most significant factors for the visitors, when compared with little price (Ritchie, 2008). Communication and media associations will clear the marketing communication and release any indistinctness about the condition, with operative collaboration amongst media and government consultants to remove doubts and avoid conveying unnecessary information (Ritchie, 2008). Emergency preparedness shows a significant role in the organization. Strategies should be adopted, updated and evaluated. Managerial assurance and managers’ mindfulness provide needed resources and effective exercise to minimize damages, and mitigate the impacts of hazards. Safety security and surveillance systems are indispensable to the visitants in the hospitality properties; specialists argued that this might be used as a marketing instrument for guests, tourists, and meeting planners. In conclusion, organizational double- and single-loop learning from the disaster will help hospitality specialists to comprehend hospitality management emergency contexts, develop practical planning, and assess a strategy’s efficiency, and give them the chances to adopt and apply new ideas and plans to deal with emergencies and dangerous events (Rooney, 2007). In accordance to Rittichainuwat, some of the factors that influence the level of risk associated with crisis and disaster situations in the tourism, events and hospitality industry include Inefficient planning, lack of knowledge, lack of training, concentration of visitors in a specific area, the hotel design of putting the guest rooms in the highest floors, while the high-risk facilities are positioned in the lower floors and lack of biometric technologies leading to information interruption. Potential use of biometric expertise in the hospitality industry reinforces the hotel facilities by ensuring security, upholding customer relations by decreasing the cost, and increases the efficiency of hotel security procedures. Moreover, biometric technologies might be used for physical entrance, computers passwords, and detection of terrorists and criminals. Hotels liaise with the intelligence and police force agencies to avoid crimes and terrorist actions (Stafford, 2006). Biometric systems lessens robbery by visitors and employees and also the misuse of hotel assets Tourism, as a global mobile industry, have a great part in the disease transmission as it transfers a given pestilential from one tourist destination to another.Planning for disasters is very significant to control the current event. Moreover, it is a skill to avoid hazards like hotel fires, and proves the intention to identify the crisis warning signs. Hotels are classified as high-risk buildings, particularly for fires, due to the presence of extremely flammable materials and the probability of pervasion of fire and smoke to the other buildings or even to bordering buildings (Stafford, 2006). Planning for emergencies considers several internal issues such as teamwork, communication, and control. On the other hand the most significant internal factor is the management’s assurance to adopt and improve an emergency management strategy, which is a strong regulation and updated message to communicate in advance, during, and subsequently after the crisis. Large organizations have an emergency strategy than smaller ones, based on the size and their monetary situation. (Ritchie, 2008)Improving knowledge that enables the practitioners to comprehend hotel fire characteristics, while the workers’ need to receive adequate training on how to handle fires and miscellaneous dangers (Stafford, 2006). The concentration of visitors in a specific area slows the escaping capacity close to exits, which increases the damages in case of emergencies. Additionally, it is important to remember that the amount of combustible materials that turns into appropriate fuel for a fire. Besides, the hotel plan of placing the guest rooms on the uppermost floors, while high-risk facilities are put on the lower floors, is a perilous plan that closes the escape routes in cases of emergencies.Stakeholders and managers ought to be aware of the significance of updating an emergency strategy and full comprehensive information concerning their hotels, its facilities, and safety and security measures adopted in case of vulnerability. The three steps vital in emergency planning include: recognizing prevailing risks, improving an updated emergency strategy, and lastly to assuring the establishment’s preparedness for any emergencies. The plan also contains the use, upgrading, and maintenance, for the security and protection systems (Ritchie, 2008).

References

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