Tourists who will visit in the wake of disaster

The profile of tourists in a destination immediately after a crisis is often characterized by media staff, emergency personnel, and public-sector brokers (destination authorities); however, once the infrastructure has been restored but before the destination has returned to normalcy (1-2 years), the profile of tourists in the destination is quite unique.  There exists a specific species of tourist whose interest is to assist people in the destination they are traveling to, identified here as the Humanitarian Tourist.  There are a number of variations of this type of tourist; some may be instrumentally oriented, possessing a set of professional skills, such as doctors, optometrists, dentists, engineers, etc; this type of Humanitarian Tourist is often funded by an NGO, such as the Lions Club or Rotary International.  There is also a variation of the Humanitarian Tourist, which does not necessarily possess a specific set of professional skills needed by their destination, but who are still able to assist locals by helping with cleanup, rebuilding, or simply traveling to a destination to contribute to the local economy; this type of tourist has been called the Voluntourist.

Conant notes that, “For some altruistic travelers, vacations mean more than just a day at the beach…. Whether it’s rebuilding homes in tsunami-hit Sri Lanka, cutting trails in Belize for environmental scientists or teaching English to schoolchildren in Thailand, socially responsible travel is on the rise.  Holidaymakers are recognizing that they can have fun doing good; volunteers don scuba gear to record scientific data on dolphins in the Bahamas or lead relief missions on horseback through the Himalayas.  It’s tourism with a conscience, undertaken by travelers who don’t want to experience another culture through the window of a tour bus and who will gladly trade a five-star luxury hotel room for a sleeping bag on the floor of a remote village home.” (Conant, 2005, pp. 43-44) 

An interesting point about the Humanitarian Tourist is the Tourist-Local interaction.  As pointed out previously, there is often some level of conflict or tension between locals and brokers and between locals and tourists.  In the case of the Humanitarian Tourist, the locals are much more likely to accept the tourist into their community and actually appreciate their presence.  The tourist in this case is also likely to develop a personal attachment to the locals and their destination, returning in the future and encouraging friends to visit.  The 1999 Ismit, Turkey earthquake met with a massive international response of support and sympathy which involved 64 countries: medical aid teams from Israel, the United Kingdom, the United States, Greece, Kuwait, Germany and nineteen other countries arrived within 72 hours (Bierman, 2003).  This global effort led to Ankara hosting the Global Information Network Conference in April 2000, which pledged global cooperation in prevention, contingency management, information-sharing, financing, and rescue and recovery for major natural disasters (Bierman, 2003).

The International Institute on Peace through Tourism has identified voluntourism as a growing market segment.  The Third Global Summit on Peace Through Tourism, held in Pattaya, Thailand in October of 2005,  featured a session which focused on voluntourism and the subject was also raised in many of the plenary sessions.  There were three graduate students present at the conference doing theses or dissertations on the topic of voluntourism.  The Humanitarian Tourist must not be overlooked as both a source of relief effort and also economic recovery.  This type of tourist will visit a destination, injecting much-needed capital, when many other tourists will not.

 Bierman (2003) outlines a set of tourist profiles that are important to understand when talking about the type of tourists who will visit a destination in the wake of a crisis.  He identifies three classifications, which include Stalwarts, Waverers/ fair weather friends, and the Disaffected or discretionary market.   The Stalwart market is made up of those with a strong affinity or feeling of solidarity to the destination, such as VFR (Visiting Friends and Relatives) tourism.  Expatriates are often encouraged to visit a destination during a crisis, or as an expression of solidarity during the recovery phase (Bierman, 2003).  In the wake of the 1999 Izmit, Turkey earthquake, Turkish ethnic communities around the world were exhorted to help with recovery by visiting and encouraging foreigners to visit.  The Waverers/ fair weather friends often resume travel quickly after the crisis is resolved.  Destination authorities may wait until a crisis is over, then conduct a massive marketing campaign directed at the Waverers/ fair weather friends, attempting to lure them back through assurances that the destination has returned to normal and by offering discounts and incentives.  This group is the prime target during the post-crisis recovery and restoration phase.  The Disaffected or discretionary market is the largest travel market segment in the world and views the destination as a holiday destination.  While this group will be deterred by anything that might complicate their vacation, especially if they feel that it will add stress to or threaten the security of their vacation, ignoring this market is not an option.  The intensity of marketing efforts directed at the Disaffected or discretionary market may be reduced during a time of crisis, but authorities must signal to all sectors of the market that they are committed to their destination and have the confidence to promote it.  Advertising campaigns must combat negative perceptions and highlight positive reasons to continue travel to the destination (Bierman, 2003).  Table 2 summarizes Beirman’s post-disaster market segments.

Table 2: Post-Disaster Market Segments (Bierman, 2003)

Stalwarts	Strong affinity or feeling of solidarity to destination VFR Often part of large communities living abroad (expatriates) Encouraged to visit as an epression of solidarity during recovery phase
Waverers/ fair weather friends	Usually first to return after crisis is resolved Often target of intensive market campaign immediately post crisis Prime target market during post-crisis recovery and restoration phase
Disaffected or discretionary market	Largest market segment in the world Views destination primarily as holiday destination Deterred by anything that complicates or adds stress to their vacation Need to see positive images combating negative perceptions

Source: (Bierman, 2003, pp.35-36)

 

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