Anatomy of tourism crisis: explaining the effects on tourism of the UK foot and mouth disease epidemics of 1967–68 and 2001 with special reference to media portrayal

Abstract

AbstractThis paper studies the UK foot and mouth disease (FMD) epidemics of 1967–68 and 2001. It briefly analyses the characteristics of each outbreak of disease and the contrasts between them. The paper then assesses the effects on the UK tourism industry from both outbreaks and also focuses on the role of the media in its portrayal of the effects. Data are gleaned from secondary sources such as BBC archives of radio and television programmes, other media such as key newspapers, as well as specialist journals and government reports. The study concludes that the 1967–68 outbreak had only a limited actual effect on tourism (and an even more limited effect as perceived in the media), whereas the 2001 epidemic had a much larger effect — actual and as perceived in the media. It is suggested that there are many explanations for the differences, including the time of the year of the outbreaks, the spatial spread of the disease, the amount of countryside that was deemed to have restricted access and the growth in supply of rural tourism operators. The changed character of news reporting itself created some different effects — the media role in the 2001 crisis was not entirely passive. Indeed, the paper finally stresses that the role of the media is crucial in tackling any future such crisis — the media can be harnessed as a key element of tourism contingency planning. In this respect there is, indeed, much similarity between the 2001 FMD crisis and other current crises worldwide. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.