APEC draws up tourism risk strategy
APEC draws up tourism risk strategy
Roberto Coloma, Agence France-Presse, Singapore
Scarred by last year's Bali massacre and sapped by the lingering SARS epidemic, Asia-Pacific countries are forging a risk management strategy to protect their tourism sectors from future disasters.
The Singapore-based Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum is taking the lead role in developing recommendations to help its 21 members cope with "natural or man-made catastrophes" affecting the travel industry.
The project is being carried out in cooperation with the World Tourism Organization (WTO) and Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA). Recommendations are to be delivered to APEC member economies by September.
Lessons will be gleaned from the September 2001 attacks on the United States, the October 2002 bombings on Indonesia's resort island of Bali, natural disasters and -- most damaging of all to regional tourism -- this year's Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak.
Ian Kean, executive director of the APEC International Center for Sustainable Tourism (AICST) in Australia, told AFP that security will just be one area to be addressed by the study.
"The final result will be an example or model for governments to follow to have policies, procedures and systems in place to be better able to deal with any disaster or crisis, and will provide options and recommendations on how to be proactive as well," he said.
Aspects such as insurance, law, media and management will be covered by the government agencies, private businesses, non- governmental organizations and academics taking part in the study.
Kean said the final report will provide a "world's best practice" model for governments to "adopt and adapt" to be well- positioned to respond to future crises.
The bomb blasts on Bali killed 202 people, mostly foreigners, destroying the famous Southeast Asian resort's placid image. Officials say terrorist cells still lurk in the region, quietly plotting strikes on other high-profile but soft targets.
The pneumonia-like respiratory virus SARS, which has killed over 800 people and infected close to 8,500 mostly in East Asia, has had a far more crippling effect on the travel industry, costing billions of dollars as tourists stayed away and governments scrambled for a unified response.
The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has estimated that almost three million tourism-linked jobs could be lost in 2003 as a result of SARS in just four affected APEC members -- China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam.
Australian Professor Jeff Wilks of the University of Queensland, who leads the APEC study team, said the tourism industry traditionally has little expertise in risk management.
"The unique aspect of this international project is that it draws on the successful partnerships in other areas of government and industry to assist tourism in dealing effectively with unexpected events," Wilks said in a statement.
APEC was set up to promote free trade and investment in the Pacific Ocean rim. It established the AICST to undertake collaborative research on issues that impact the future of the tourism industry, one of the region's biggest money-spinners.
The AICST's Kean said the final report may include options for special legislation immediately after a disaster to allow for recovery initiatives that could help lessen the impact on businesses, especially small firms.
"The study is looking at the big picture rather than any single element of prevention or recovery," Kean said.
"At the end of the day it is all about managing known or unknown risks. How to be better prepared. How to be better informed on workable options. How to have systems in place to deal with whatever happens."