Crisis! What Crisis? A Descriptive and Normative Study on Crisis Management for Tour Operators

Abstract: This study attempts to identify crisis management practices deployed by tour operators to face crises. Tour operators exercise a pivotal role in channelling tourism flows. Nevertheless, this role is often destabilized by crises in an increasingly volatile environment. Hence, sustaining the tour operators’ role and ensuring their long term growth demands a formal crisis management system. Yet, the ambiguous nature of the tour operating industry inhibits researchers from exploring existing crisis management practices. Therefore probing, metaphorically, is used to conduct an overview of these practices. It relies on a multiphase scanning of different sources representing various tour operators’ internal and external stakeholders. The study reveals that many tour operators consider crisis management as an operational issue, although crises are dealt with strategically. Furthermore, a generally adoptable crisis management system could not be clearly identified. As such, a flexible crisis management framework is suggested for tour operators to consider. The framework is based on the concepts of latent and active prevention, operational and strategic responses, legitimization, and organizational learning. The framework is also used to suggest areas for future research.