Opportunity Knocks: Putting Communication Research into the Travel and Tourism Risk and Crisis Literature

Abstract

This chapter briefly considers how the tourism and travel industry is structured, vital to understanding its potential risks and crises. Then tourism literature on risk and crisis communication and management are briefly reviewed. The chapter examines how research in risk communication and crisis communication response from the public relations/communication literature might inform and improve management of risks and crises in the tourism and travel industry. The travel and tourism industry involves a multilayered, overlapping, and interlocking distribution system of sellers and buyers of travel products. The communication component in the travel and tourism risk and crisis management literature from the public relations perspective is largely missing. It is possible that the travel and tourism industry itself does not yet generally view public relations as a management function. Some public relations crisis communication research has used travel and tourism case studies published in public relations academic journals.