Dubai is among the destinations which is vulnerable to tourism-related crises, says a new book on crisis management in tourism industry.

The book, entitled “Crisis Management in the Tourism Industry: Beating the Odds”, has been co-written by Dr. Peter Hosie, associate professor in management at UOWD, and Dr. Christof Pforr, associate professor in Tourism Management, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia.

The book calls for more preparedness from Dubai authorities to handle the possible fallout.

The book was recently released by the Premier of New South Wales, Australia, the Rt. Hon. Nathan Rees, during a brief visit to the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD), as part of a UAE visit to boost bilateral relations between NSW and the UAE.

Present on the occasion were Jeremy Bruer, Australian ambassador to the UAE, members of the Premier’s entourage and senior officials of UOWD.

Citing cases studies revolving round major crises, such as the 9/11 terror attack, the Indian Ocean tsunami and the Sars epidemic, the Bali bombings, the book illustrates particular aspects of destination preparation, recovery marketing and crisis communications in different temporal and geographic contexts.

Hosie said the preparation stage of crisis management in tourism is the actual beginning of any strategic response to recovery, as proactive crisis management policies and practices can contribute to businesses’ capacity to manage crises.

“The way Singapore handles the SARS crisis is a classic example how a destination can act swiftly and proactively to prevent a crisis from bringing tourism to a grinding halt,” he pointed out.

“Dubai is an international destination, peopled by diverse nationalities. Dubai can lean a lot from the way Singapore rose to the occasion and brought tourism back on the rail within a short time, despite the alarm created by international media.”

According to the book, the incidence of global terrorism, serious criminal activity and the ever-present threat of natural disasters have accentuated the need for businesses to adopt a pre-emptive attitude and proactively confront the issue of crisis preparedness in tourism.

With contributions from a diverse range of experts, the book covers various contexts to provide academics, students and professionals with a rich source of information on contemporary issues facing the volatile industry.

A balanced mix of practical and conceptual issues suggests what organisations and businesses can do to avoid crises and how best to recover from such events.

“Though the book was written before the global financial crises broke out, it seems particularly appropriate for current times. Clearly, one of the biggest victims of the current crises is the tourism industry, as demonstrated by what is happening in Dubai and the rest of the UAE,” Hosie noted.

“Crisis management skills will be put to the test in these challenging times,” he pointed out.

"So far, only limited scholarly activity was evident in documenting the development of models and frameworks of crisis management to prepare stakeholders for negative events, to guide responses and minimise the impact when a crisis situation arose,” said Hosie.

“This book fills the gap by assembling in one volume disparate literature pertaining to crisis management in the field of tourism,” he added.

The book is divided into two parts. The first part lays the foundation for a better understanding of the conceptual and theoretical features of crisis management in tourism by defining, describing, scoping and characterising critical issues.

In the second part, a range of regional and country-specific cases are presented to illustrate particular aspects of destination preparation, recovery marketing and crisis communications.

Hosie joined the UOWD in 2007, after holding senior positions at Curtin Un