Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Community readiness
It is important to remember that when a disaster strikes, the local community has to endure not
only the initial physical impact, but also the prospect of ongoing economic hardship due to loss
of businesses and income (Pearlman and Melnik 2008; Walters and Clulow 2010). Therefore, it
may seem that getting tourists to return as quickly as possible would be the main aim. However,
as noted above, tourists may feel that they would be intruding on locals at a bad time or imposing
on people in diffi cult situations. One way to counteract this is to design marketing messages that
reassure potential visitors that the community wants them to come. Promoting community
readiness in this way is potentially an effective message. 'We are ready to welcome you' was used
in Sri Lanka following the Boxing Day Tsunami (Robinson and Jarvie 2008).
Messages to restore confi dence
One of the key problems with marketing a tourist destination post-disaster is that the market
may have lost a degree of confi dence in the affected destination. This is often based on the
reports that they have seen in the media, which may be misleading and are often accused of
being sensationalized (Hystad and Keller 2008) or perpetuating disaster myths (Faulkner 2001).
On some occasions, media coverage has led to confusion regarding the extent of the disaster by
exaggerating the extent of damage or the size of the affected area (Walters and Clulow 2010).
Lehto
et al
. (2008) suggest that the fi rst marketing message should aim to restore confi dence in
the minds of potential visitors. The central theme of this message type focuses on reassuring
visitors that the effect of the disaster is less than they think. Examples of messages used in this
context include 'Our heart's still going strong' (Armstrong and Ritchie 2008), used to promote
Canberra after bushfi res in 2004; 'New Orleans - never better' (Pearlman and Melnik 2008),
following Hurricane Katrina; and 'Never Better' (Prideaux
et al
. 2008), used in Far North
Queensland following Tropical Cyclone Larry. It is important, however, that this message
approach be considered only if destination marketers are confi dent that the majority of spaces
tourists are likely to occupy remain relatively unaffected.
Curiosity enhancement
Sanders
et al
. (2008) highlight the importance of portraying a good news story, with less focus on
the destination's need for help, and more focus on encouraging people to return to it and see it
'with fresh eyes', or to see its condition for themselves. Research suggests that messages related
to curiosity enhancement are likely to be effective in post-disaster marketing. Ashworth and
Hartmann (2005), for example, claim that unusual natural phenomena, such as hurricanes
and fl oods, draw tourists to experience the unusual event and satisfy human curiosity - which,
according to Mayo and Jarvis (1981), is simply a need humans are born with. Also of relevance
to this approach is the concept of 'thanatourism' or 'dark tourism'
.
Seaton and Lennon (2004)
propose that the motivation to participate in this type of tourism is driven by a fascination with
death and or misfortunes of others. While the majority of tourists who engage in this form
of tourism are normally attracted to sites of mass or individual death, internment sites and
memorials or places that offer symbolic representations of death, one of the main driving forces
is curiosity (Lennon and Foley 2000). Rittichainuwat (2008), in her study that investigated
tourist motivations to visit the island of Phuket following the Boxing Day Tsunami, provides
support for this proposition, revealing that curiosity was one of the primary motivations among
Thai and Scandinavian tourists to visit the destination.
