Crises like the Tsunami are imaginable and conceivable, if only we, in the Hospitality Industry, would learn to ask ourselves more often : What else can go wrong?

This article is dedicated to those who lost their lives as the consequence of the December 26th, 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami as well as to their families and friends, to those injured, to those that have lost everything else and to the, mainly local, Hospitality Operators and Suppliers that are reeling from the after-effects

Last year I was a speaker or lecturer on the subject of Crisis Management at 23 different occasions but, by the end of 2004, I felt like a “ lone ranger “ and a “doomsayer” while presenting this topic. During the ASEAN Hotel Association’s meeting in Bangkok and during a Hotel Investment Conference in Hong Kong not more than 20 participants attended, while just after SARS hundreds were interested.

Business was back to normal, so focus returned to productivity, promotability and profitability and investing in disaster preparedness or, a more positive approach, in reputation management had a low priority, once again …….

The PATA crisis management awareness booklet “ Crisis, It Won’t Happen to Me”, that was prepared in cooperation with The Wining Edge after the Bali-bombing, opened with the following statement :

Interest in disaster preparedness is proportional to the recency and the magnitude of the last disaster

“ Who would have thought that such an unimaginable event could take place “, was the reaction from an extremely experienced Travel Association Chairman the day after the Tsunami and many other Industry Leaders were using similar words like “inconceivable”, “unbelievable”, “unthinkable”, “indescribable”, “undreamed of” or “beyond belief” during the aftermath.

The truth of the matter is that crises like the Indian Ocean Tsunami are imaginable and conceivable, if only we, in the Hospitality Industry, would learn to ask ourselves more often :

One of my mentors in the hotel business taught me this motto while I was working in a key convention hotel and trained me to be always “1 step behind and, at the same time, 3 steps ahead” of the conference organizer; a very basic, but effective, form of Risk Management …….

In the pharmaceutical industry, in the petrochemical industry, but also in the cruise and the airline industry, senior executives are assigned with Risk Management responsibilities, to think about all situations that can harm the company, its assets and, lately, the environment it operates in.

Those companies talk about Risk Scenarios, evaluate the potential of each such scenario by imagining “worse case challenges“ and then start, based on probability, proactively planning to avoid, be prepared for and/or handle such “tribulations”.

Only a few International Hospitality Companies have taken some steps on this road to more safety and security and most Individual Hotel Operators are still hoping “ It Won’t Happen to Me “ ……..

Perhaps we, members of the Hospitality Industry, should go to the movies more often and let the Hollywood scriptwriters guide us towards better Risk Management, an internet list of Natural Disasters movies on amazon.com leads us to more, presently for most of us, “unimaginable” situations.

Volcano, Afterschock, 10.5 , Deep Impact, Armageddon, Asteroid, The Perfect Storm, Hard Rain and Firestorm are the best selling movies in this category and who hasn’t heard of movies about giant insects taking over the world ?

The answers to those “inconceivable” challenges are, first of all, creating higher awareness, around the hospitality world in every corner of the globe, for the need for Risk Management and preventive Crisis Management and, secondly, acquiring the management skills and the “political will” that are needed to implement these concepts.

Risk Management is a management process used for pro-active decision-making that ;

1. continuously assesses what risks can occur, “what can else can go wrong ?”
2. determines which risks are the most significant
3. formulates and implements strategies and tactics to deal with those risks

Crisis Management can be broken down into four distinctive phases, the 4 R’s :

• Reduction: detecting early warning signals
• Readiness: preparing plans and running exercises
• Response: executing operational and communication plans during a crisis situation
• Recovery:returning the organization to “normal” after a crisis

Other industries have developed over the years this kind of Crisis Management plans, based on both hindsight and vision, and as crisis did happen, by evaluating the lessons learned and adapting and improving those plans accordingly.

As unpretentious example, just ask yourself this one, sample, question:

Where is my IT back-up located ?

Most hotel operators, which got hit by the Tsunami in the South-West of Thailand lost, in addition to guests, staff and their property, their entire customer and financial data, because the back-up was at the same location as the main server …….

I do not claim to be the ultimate expert on Risk and Crisis Management, the Web can guide you to experienced specialists and to excellent samples of professional plans, but I do pray that this article, and even more so the recent lesson nature taught us, will help to start some of you thinking, then asking a lot of questions on this subject and, subsequently, taking action before the next “unimaginable” crisis happens.

A Phuket-based diving company that asked my advice after recovering from the initial shock, is now reporting faster than average return of business and has enhanced their reputation amongst the local and diving community.

Both PATA and ICCA have prepared this kind of “food for thought” for their members, may regional and local organizations, not only in Asia but anywhere in the world, follow that pattern and “wake up” their members too !

And may the participants of the next AHA and HICAP meetings realize that there are always risks looming and that preparedness is the minimum their guests expect.

The other solution will be education, and I challenge Hospitality Universities and Colleges around the globe to include Risk & Crisis Management in their curriculum as soon as possible, the same way they started including environmental issues and then sustainability in their programs when that became “fashionable” !

After the SARS crisis the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ), 3 Universities ( Hong Kong, Hawaii and Brisbane ), WTO and PATA cooperated and produced a report on Tourism Risk Management for the Asia Pacific Region, ( ISBN number 1 920704 75 ) that is an ideal text book for such education, but it is sitting on the shelf unread and unused.

So, to those readers, both from the private, public and academic organizations world-wide, that have studied this article until this paragraph and to those that already believe “ It Can Happen to Me “, my plea : let’s work together and make, in this small way, a long-term contribution to the safety and security of our guests, our staff, our suppliers and our assets and, last but not least, to our reputation.

Churchill said :

The optimist sees an opportunity in every danger, the pessimist sees a danger in every opportunity.

Therefore please, either go to the movies or start implementing Risk & Crisis Management and then be an optimist, choose to be one step behind and three steps ahead of the next challenge that undoubtedly will happen in Europe, the America’s, the Middle East, Asia Pacific or anywhere else and don’t wait asking yourself until the next crisis occurs :

“ What else can go wrong ? “

Bert “Bow-Thai” van Walbeek has been an Hotelier for 35 years and Marketer of Tourism for 25 years, a Motivator for 15 years and a lecturer for 15 years. After completing the Hotelschool in The Hague, the first part of his career was accomplished in Europe working in operational and later sales and marketing positions in Hilton, Inter-Continental, Canadian Pacific and Sheraton Hotels around Europe. The second part started with his arrival in Thailand in 1985, where he spearheaded the successful marketing efforts to reposition the Royal Orchid Sheraton. He also became a member of the Marketing Committee of TICA ( Thailand Incentive & Convention Association ) , and was the Founder and first President of the Thailand Chapter of SITE ( Society of Incentive Travel Executives). By the end of 1988 he was appointed as Sheraton’s Vice President Marketing for the Middle East, an area that covered 5 time zones and 26 hotels. During this tenure he had to face the marketing opportunities of the Gulf Crisis and developed the "Back To Normal" concepts for both the Sheraton Hotels in the area and for the Egyptian General Authority for the Promotion of Tourism. These recovery programs were launched 2 weeks after the Gulf Crisis was resolved. Click here for more...