Destination Recovery Services

Helping the travel industry PREPARE for and RECOVER from disaster.

Welcome

Destination Recovery Services, LLC was formed to help organizations in the travel industry prepare for and recover from disasters and crises.

On this site, you will find information and resources to help managers and planners understand and prepare for disaster in tourism destinations. The resources available here are provided free as a service to the industry. You will also find information about consulting and speaking services which can be provided to assist in preparing for, or recovering from, disaster.

Destination Recovery Services is the product of a Master's Thesis completed in 2006 at the University of Washington, titled, "Tourism Destination Recovery: A Case Study of Thailand’s Andaman Sea Region Destinations in the Aftermath of the December 26, 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami."

Destination Recovery

Recent history has reminded us that disasters happen in tourism destinations. Tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, and bombings have forced travel industry organizations to confront the reality that no destination is immune from the possibility of a disaster or crisis. Disaster in tourism destinations is not a new phenomenon; however, the frequency of these events seems to be increasing and the technology to mitigate economic impacts is changing rapidly.

Conventional areas of concern in disaster recovery and crisis management plans address emergency medical relief, evacuation of tourists, restoration of essential services and infrastructure, debris cleanup and redevelopment; surprisingly, communication continuity and image recovery are often overlooked. Destination Recovery is taken to mean the suite of activities associated with restoring a destination to its pre-event level of arrivals and state of vibrancy, which encompasses not only physical rebuilding, but also the restoration of the destination’s image in the minds of consumers.

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