NEWS TRAVEL WEEKLY BUSINESS CONTINUED FROM THE BACK


trade together at summits like ITCMS is response centres to pool resources and coordinate the public and private response. “I want a central


coordination and resilience centre within the Caribbean to deal with matters like this, to build capacity to enable a quick response,” he said. Bartlett added that all


regions of the planet should have such centres to encourage collaboration and bring in expertise in areas that are lacking, as well as overseeing media communications. He praised how quickly


private partners like cruise lines, hotel groups and airlines responded as well as nations such as the UK, but said the impact was “too dispersed and thinly spread”. Lee Miles, Bournemouth


University dean of crisis and disaster management, said the travel sector must understand how governmental agencies are organised and their strengths and weaknesses. But he also said public


bodies could do more to benefit from disaster resilience plans already in place in private organisations such as hotels, airlines and airports. “Organisations need to understand what are the single points of failure in particular parts of the world and where travel and tourism expertise can be drawn in,” he said. “In many parts of the world one of the challenges is most expertise in travel and tourism is local. In a disaster the first people to be affected are local, and the last people to leave are local. “You need to engage both


top-down and bottom-up with communities. That means understanding different cultures. There are different styles of disaster management.”


International Travel Crisis Management Summit 2017: More than 200


‘In a crisis? Communicate well and make it personal’


Brands were advised to “over-communicate” in a crisis and “be decent” if they are to be judged favourably in the court of public opinion.


Communications experts were


asked for their top tips for building an effective crisis communications policy. Rachel O’Reilly, a travel public


relations executive who is head of communications for Kuoni and who previously headed Thomson’s PR team, said: “Over-communicate rather than under-communicate. Just say you don’t have an update if you don’t have anything to say. Say something and make it personal.” Her advice was echoed by David


Tarsh, managing director at Tarsh Consulting and a spokesman for analytics firm ForwardKeys. “Be decent,” he said. “That runs right through everything in communications. If you are not a good communicator it will show.” Tarsh advised delegates to


sack lawyers who advise against offering an apology in the event


‘If board doesn’t buy into crisis plan you’re on to loser’


Having board-level buy-in to any crisis plan is crucial to successfully surviving as a company, experts told delegates. Joanna Kolatsis, a partner at law


firm Hill Dickinson, said: “It’s very much a top-down approach. “If your board has not bought in


to what you are doing and is not empowering your people to make decisions you are on to a loser.” Kolatsis said lawyers need


62 travelweekly.co.uk 23 November 2017


ADVICE: Rachel O’Reilly tells brands to keep communications simple


of an incident that causes harm to their customers. “Don’t listen to lawyers because


what they are thinking is about way down the track after the crisis is finished that you are going to be in a court of law,” he said. “The fact is in the moment of


a crisis you are not in a court of law, you are in the court of public opinion, and silence is as much as an admission of guilt. “Don’t not do anything. Silence


to be at the centre of pre-crisis preparation. “You don’t want to meet me in the middle of a crisis; you want me to know your brand values.” Jennifer Tombaugh, president of


tour operator Tauck, said: “Safety and security is important, but it all comes down to values and brand identity. “If people don’t know what your


underlying values are they don’t know what your processes are and things can go awry very, very fast.” Speakers said crisis plans need to


be tested against real-life scenarios but be flexible enough to cope with scenarios that are unpredictable.


KOLATSIS: ‘You want lawyers to know your brand values’


is always misinterpreted. You have to make a statement. Saying nothing to not give credibility to something is not a strategy.” O’Reilly said brands needed to be on the front foot and that the chief executive is not necessarily always the right spokesperson. She said communications should be kept simple and the media should be regarded as an ally. “Don’t treat journalists as an enemy,” she said.


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