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."