About

Benjamin Brigham has completed thesis research on tourism destination recovery to earn a Master of Marine Affairs degree at the University of Washington's School of Marine Affairs. His analysis explores destination marketing and recovery planning in the Andaman region after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. He joined the Pacific Asia Travel Association’s delegation on the Flight of Friendship to Thailand and also studied Cancun in the wake of Hurricane Wilma.

Mr. Brigham presented his thesis research at the United Nations World Tourism Organization's (UNWTO) prestigious Ulysses Conference in 2006 and has authored a chapter on the subject of tourism destination recovery for a book being published by the UNWTO.

Mr. Brigham has also written articles on the topics of voluntourism and web 2.0 technology in the travel industry for Youth Travel International Magazine and is writing "A Practitioner's Guide to Destination Recovery: What Managers and Planners Must Know to Prepare For, Act During, and Recover From Disaster."

With a background in technology and a B.S. in Informatics from the University of Washington's Information School, he addressed information asymmetry problems observed after the tsunami by developing a tourism technology toolset that provides travel industry organizations with strategic intelligence. This toolset, now known as The Ferret™, monitors feeds from news networks around the world; as well as, blogs and travel review websites and alerts clients immediately when an item about their organization is discovered.

Formerly a specialist in business development and market identification, focusing on entrepreneurial enterprises, he has built and sold many businesses; as well as consulted frequently on start-up ventures. He is a member of the Pacific Asia Travel Association’s Young Tourism Professional program, and writes, speaks and consults widely on the topics of destination recovery and tourism technology. Based in Seattle, his websites are http://www.destinationrecovery.com/, http://www.viverrae.com, and http://www.springbreakrelief.org.

Destination Recovery Services

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