Horseback Tourism in Victoria, Australia: Cooperative, Proactive Crisis Management

Abstract

Crises occur at all levels of tourism operations with varying degrees of severity, from much-publicised environmental economic and political disasters through to internally generated crises such as accidents and sudden illness. For many tourists and tour operators, a crisis could be little more than a set of unforeseen negative occurrences. As such, a crisis is a subjectively defined turning point, where even a few days of rain may precipitate a crisis for some holiday-makers. It is important to recognise that what for one person is an unmitigated disaster or crisis, may be for others the incident that makes the holiday not only memorable but enjoyable (not the least in the re-telling of the story). However, the key factor is that no matter how potentially dangerous the crisis may have been, the operator must be in control and manage the situation without exposing guests to unnecessary danger. Risk management and accident prevention are integral aspects of the preparatory phases of crisis management, in that they not only pre-empt so-called unpredictable circumstances, but also provide the operator with strategies to handle a crisis.