Template for Preparing a Northland VisitorAction Plan(VAP) to deal with Natural Hazards
Prepared by S. Becken and K. Hughey, Lincoln University
September 15, 2011
Overview
This document is structured into three parts.
- Goals and Context
- Organisational structure of tourism and Civil Defence and Emergency Management
- Outline of Visitor Action Plan
Goals and Context
Rationale
Tourism is a major pillar of the Northland Region economy. At any one time in the peak tourism season around 10,000 tourists are present and travelling around the region. Many of the attractions and accommodation facilities these tourists utilize are located in around the coastal marine environment including low lying river and estuarine environments. All of these attractions and locations are exposed to hazards associated principally with storms, flooding and tsunami. In addition much of the transport infrastructure is exposed to similar hazards. While the existing Northland Civil DefenceEmergency ManagementGroup Plan(NCDEMGP) generally deals well with all needs, there are specific tourism related factors, e.g., cooperation between tourism businesses, communication with tourists, information about events and their implications that require additional attention from a tourism perspective (see also Becken, Wilson & Hughey, 2011). Included in this need is more attention to the 4Rs of crises, i.e. Reduction, Readiness, Response and Recovery. Based on the above, a plan is needed that is specific to tourism needs in Northland Region, complements the existing NCDEMP, and is integrated across the 4Rs.
Purpose
To provide an integrated plan that identifies the key processes that can be initiated in the event of a significantcrisisto assistthe tourism sector and individual operators reduce the negative impact of natural disasters in the short, medium and long term, consistent with and complementary to the Northland Civil Defence and Emergency Management Group Plan.
Scope
The Tourism Action Planwill be designed to deal with crises resulting from natural disasters happening within Northland.
As identified by the Northland Regional Council these may include (in order of priority):
-Localised Heavy Rain/Flooding
-Local Tsunami
-Severe Widespread Storm
-Regional/Distant Tsunami
-Local Volcano
-Drought
-Rural Fire
-Earthquake
Goals and Action Priorities
Consistent with the NCDEMGP, the goals of theVisitor Action Planshould be:
- Increase awareness, understanding and participation in CDEM by tourism operators and stakeholders.
- Reduce the risks from hazards for tourism
- Enhance capability of tourism operators and stakeholders to manage an emergency within their sphere of responsibility complementing and supporting CDEM activities by the Northland CDEM Group.
- Enhance capability of tourism operators and stakeholders to recover from disaster.
Within each of the above goals the Visitor Action Plan shouldacknowledge the following priorities for action:
- Life: health and safety of those working in tourism (operators and contractors) and visitors to the region
- Property: protect property owned or operated as part of tourism (public and private)
- Destination image: maintain or enhance positive image of Northland as a tourist destination
Northland Civil Defence and Emergency ManagementContext
The Northland CDEM Group Planwas released in March 2010 by the Northland Civil Defence Emergency Management Group. The plan details the overarching goals, the hazard context, the CDEM programme 2010-2015, and performance targets.
The NCDEMGP is structured into Readiness, Reduction, Response and Recovery (4Rs).The CDEM Group consists of representatives from the local councils, the regional council, police and fire. The core functions of the Group are to identify hazards and risks and to develop plans for addressing them. The Coordinating Executive Group (CEG), which sits underneath the CDEM Group, is responsible for the implementation of the CDEM plan, as well as monitoring and evaluating it. The CEG also provides advice to the CDEM Group. Core members are:
- The Chief Executive Officer, or their representative, from each member local authority
- A senior member of the Police
- A senior member of the Fire Service
- The Chief Executive, or their representative, from the Northland District Health Board
- The Medical Officer of Health.
In addition, the CDEM Group has appointed the following non-statutory members as full members and specialistadvisors of the CEG:
- The Chief Executive, or their representative, of St John (ambulance services)
- Welfare Advisory Group chairperson
- Northland Lifelines Group representative
- The Conservator of the Department of Conservation
- Rural Fire committee chairperson
- The Group Controller.
An integral component of Northland’s Civil Defence approach is the establishment of Community Response Plans. These plans are initiated by local councils but require local leadership and commitment. The plans aim to:
- Ensure that communities identify hazards and risks and collectively understand how they will manage in anyfuture event, particularly by identifying roles, responsibilities and resources before an event occurs.
- Identify local leaders or an individual (volunteers) in the community who is prepared to champion CDEM inthe community. The leader will communicate CDEM information to the community and relay communityconcerns back to the local authority’s CDEM support structure.
- Outline what resources the community has and how they may be used in an emergency, for examplecommunications, identification of welfare centres, physical equipment and a list of key community contacts.
OrganisationalStructure of Tourism and Civil Defence
Tourism in Northland:
The tourism sector in Northland is made up of a number of organisations and businesses. Key players may be organized in a “Tourism Cluster”. The role of the Tourism Cluster is to:
- Link in with existing CDEM groups, e.g. through becoming a member of the CEG and also ensure representation of tourism in Community Response Groups
- The Tourism Cluster develops the Tourism Action Plan (VAP) and reviews it annually.
- Appoints individuals for the key roles/responsibilities detailed below.
Integration – Template
The Visitor Action Plan
Purpose
- The VAP will comprise regional-level guidelines and initiatives that address tourism-specific needs currently not covered in the Northland CDEM Group Plan
- The VAP also specifies how tourism can maximize integration with other Northland CDEM initiatives and CRPs (e.g. inform annual reviews)
- VAP needs to cover: warning system, external communication, internal communication, recovery strategies, reduction (advocacy), operator education and information
The VAPfocuses on Response and Recovery, but will also address Risk Reduction and Readiness.
Proposed Response Actions
Examples of actions for a minor event:
Examples of actions for a medium event:
Examples of action for a major event:
Risk Reduction and Readiness for Tourism
The objective is to identify risk reduction and readiness initiatives that are relevant for tourism and to address them in one of the following ways:
Initiatives / Tourism involvement / Examples- Initiatives being implemented by other organisations, impacting (positively or negatively) on tourism.
Installation of sirens for tsunami warnings;
Resource consents for development activities;
- Initiative identified and potentially implemented by a non-tourism agency
Awareness programmes for Maori (e.g. by TePunaKokiri);
Emergency drills by the Ministry of CDEM;
- Initiative identified and potentially implemented by a national-level tourism agency
Information pamphlets for tourists, e.g. on tsunamis (e.g. by TNZ);
- Initiative identified and potentially implemented by a local or regional tourism agency
Recommendations for Emergency Kits for accommodation providers;
Integration with Community Response Plans.
Examples of activities that the Tourism Cluster will initiate:
- Assist businesses to develop a crisis response plan and a business continuity plan (see Appendix for more detail);
- Provide training (e.g. workshops) to businesses;
- Ensure contact details are maintained and updated;
- Develop a “contact tree” for passing on information and also for reporting back (see below);
- Ensure important documents are backed up and stored safely or readily to be taken when evacuated;
- Ensure that all staff of an organization know what to do and what their roles are;
- Have an evacuation plan;
- Recommend to businesses to prepare evacuation packs (see Appendix);
- Prepare a template for an “event log”;
- Undertake scenario analysis with stakeholders;
- Understand core vulnerabilities of destination and businesses;
Recovery
Recovery deals with the efforts and processes put in place after an event to allow continuation of Northland as a tourism destination. The Recovery Officer with assistance from the wider NTCMG prepares a Recovery Action Plan. The Recovery includesfouraspects:
- Business and infrastructure;
- Media liaison;
- Marketing;
- Research.
Business and infrastructure:
-Inform operators about availability of relief efforts, and ensure any assistance programs recognise the needs of tourism operators;
-Provide communication of any regulatory or legislative changes/funding or relief programs
-Identify products that may no longer be available or new niches that may emerge after an event;
-Work with the local and regional authorities to identify and facilitate infrastructure redevelopment needs and opportunities that are important for tourism.
Media liaison: The media needs to be managed and cooperation is essential.
-Designate a spokesperson;
-Be honest and transparent and do not withhold critical information;
-Deal with the media once you can answer: who, what, where, when and why;
-Remember victims and show compassion;
-Put the crisis into context (e.g. based on historic records);
-Listen to the media and monitor events.
Marketing:
-Prepare a marketing response plan for the region as part of the Recovery Plan;
-Organise media famils and post-incident media opportunities;
-Ongoing media management i.e. recovery milestones, anniversaries, good news stories.
-External briefings or correspondence to industry, community or government stakeholders
Research:
-Collect and analyse information from operators about the impact of the crisis on their business and the destination.
-Undertake market research
-Provide policy advice to authorities if appropriate
Maintenance of the Visitor Action Plan
The Visitor Action Plan needs to be maintained and updated regularly.
Evaluations of crises and debriefings are important opportunities to improve the effectiveness of the plan. Examples of questions to be asked in a debriefing are:
- What happened?
- What did we do (a sequence of actions and responses)?
- How well did it work (and what did not)?
- What can we improve in the future?
- Do we need more training/exercises?
- Do we need better liaison with other agencies or community?
- Was the media management effective?
- Were visitors’ needs addressed adequately?
- Were there problems with communication?
- Was the Crisis Response Action Plan effective?
Documents and Templates used to prepare this document:
APEC International Centre for Sustainable Tourism (AICST) (2006).Tourism Risk Management.An Authoritative Guide to Managing Crises in Tourism.
Commonwealth of Australia (2007).National Tourism Incident Response Plan.
CPA Australia (2009). Disaster Recovery Toolkit for Business.Abridged Version.
DOC (2007).Bay of Islands Area Office.Civil Defence Emergency Management Plan. January, 2007. DOCDM-75753.
Northland Regional Council (2010b). Northland Civil Defence Emergency Management Plan. March 2010.
Tourism Queensland (2007).Regional Tourism Crisis Management Plan Template.A guide to preparing a Regional Tourism Crisis Management Plan. Brisbane.
Tourism Victoria (2010).Crisis Essentials.Crisis Management for tourism businesses. Available at
Tourism Queensland (2009).Weather ProofYour Business:Incident Response Kit. Available:
World Tourism Organisation and World Meteorological Organisation (1998).Handbook on Natural Disaster Reduction in Tourist Areas. Madrid.
Appendix
Business Continuity Plan
Based on Tourism Queensland (2009):
A Business Continuity Plan will look different for every business, however, most good plansshare some important features.
•The purpose and scope of the plan are stated at the beginning of the document
•All personnel with roles in the implementation of the plan are listed
•Risks to your business are identified and contingency plans documented
•The personnel who have the authority to invoke the plan and under what circumstances this should occur is documented
•Clear instructions for the crucial first hour after an incident are provided
•The critical business activities to be recovered and the timeframe and level of recovery needed is stated
•Contact numbers for staff, stakeholders and emergency services are recorded in one place in the plan
•A spokesperson for your business is identified
Steps to getting back to business (based on CPA Australia, 2009):
Evacuation pack – example
Based on Tourism Queensland (2009):
Documents:
-Business Continuity Plan – your plan to recover your business or organisation in the event of a critical incident.
-List of employees with contact details – include home and mobile numbers, and even e-mail addresses. You may also wish to include next-of-kin contact details.
-List of guests/customers.
-Listing of current and expected visitors/clients with contact phone numbers.
-Supplier details with contact phone numbers.
-Contact details for emergency services.
-Contact details for utility companies.
-Building site plan (this could help in a salvage effort), including location of gas, electricity and water shut off points.
-Evacuation plan.
-Latest stock and equipment inventory.
-Insurance company details.
-Financial and banking information.
-Engineering plans and drawings.
-Product lists and specifications.
-Formulas and trade secrets.
-Local authority contact details.
-Headed stationery and company seals and documents.
-Document back up and restoration procedures.
Equipment:
-Computer back-up VAPes/disks/USB memory sticks or flash drives.
-Spare keys/security codes.
-Radio and spare batteries.
-Torch and spare batteries.
-Hazard and cordon VAPe.
-Message pads and flip chart.
-Marker pens (for temporary signs).
-General stationery (pens, paper, etc).
-Mobile telephone with credit available, plus charger.
-Dust and toxic fume masks.
-Disposable camera (useful for recording evidence in an insurance claim).
Templates for what to do
The World Tourism Organisation and the World Meteorological Organisation prepared a Handbook on Natural Disaster Reduction in Tourist Areas (1998). In the comprehensive Appendix a large number of useful templates are provided:
Guide for Resort Managers:
What to do in the event of a hurricane, typhoon or tornado (5 pages)
What to do in the event of a flood (5 pages)
What to do in the event of an earthquake(4 pages)
Guide for Tourists:
What to do in the event of a hurricane, typhoon or tornado (2 pages)
What to do in the event of a flood (2 pages)
What to do in the event of an earthquake(2 pages)
Family Guide:
What to do in the event of a hurricane, typhoon or tornado (4 pages)
What to do in the event of a flood (3 pages)
What to do in the event of an earthquake(2 pages)
Guidance on marketing and press relations associated with relaunching tourism after a disaster
Press Pack
Sample News Release
Sample fact sheet for tourist destinations
Sample fact sheet for tourist industry council
Sample position or public statement of the tourism organization on the natural disaster
Call-in Hotline Questionnaire
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