Tourism, Security and Safety From Theory to Practice

Dealing with Tourism Crises
Much has been written about the use of media in crisis situations in general (Fearn-
Banks, 1995). The above-mentioned points are particularly relevant when dealing
with a destination image crisis that is the result of ongoing, long-term problems.
In the event of a sudden destination image crisis, a new set of rules comes into
effect. In such situations there is a significantly expanded demand for information
and, as a result, the role of the media becomes much more important. While it is
true that by definition, a crisis is an unexpected event, the proper management of
a tourist destination includes a certain degree of potential crisis preparation. Such
preparation includes preplanned strategies for crisis handling and the distribution
of tasks among the relevant professionals, as well as assigning staff to deal specif-
ically with information requests, including interacting with the media. Regarding
the media handling, it must be decided in advance who will be responsible for key
jobs, such as issuing press releases, speaking to journalists, and establishing an
information center, including an updated web site.
Dealing with Negative Images of Tourist Destinations
Daunting though the task of changing a destination’s negative image may be, there
are a number of worldwide cases that illustrate that it can be done successfully.
The many strategies that can be used by destination decision makers to deal with
a negative image can be divided into two main categories: those that focus on the
PR Strategies for Destination Image Crises
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Table 1
Public Relations and Advertising Strategies and the Tourist Destinations That
Employed Them to Manage a Destination Image Crisis
Category
Public Relations and 
Tourist Destinations That
Advertising Strategy
Employed the Strategy
Changing
1. Tackling the issue
Miami, New York, Syracuse, Egypt
the objective 
2. The “come see for yourself ” strategy
India, Israel, Nepal, London, 
reality
Miami, Belfast, Jerusalem, Holon,
3. Hosting special events
Beijing
4. Fostering residents’ local pride
Syracuse, Miami, Egypt
Managing
1. The “Crisis? What crisis?” approach
Spain, Manchester, Turkey, 
the symbolic
New Milford
reality
2. Employing a “counter-messages 
Miami, Tunisia, Nuremberg,
offensive”
Negev Desert
3. Acknowledging the negative image
Tulsa, London, Nepal, Israel, 
Philippines
4. Geographic isolation strategy
Eilat, Jordan
5. Spinning liabilities into assets
Minnesota, Be’er Sheva, Bradford
6. Changing a destination’s name
Vichy, North Dakota, Eilat
7. Creation of a new logo or slogan
Syracuse, Poland, Bradford
8. Changing the campaign’s target 
audience
Israel, Syria
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reality underlying the negative image, and those that fight the negative image by
means of advertising and public relations. In other words, strategies in the first cat-
egory deal with the seen/objective reality while those in the second focus on the
symbolic reality.