Real time response (RTR): Conceptualizing a smart systems approach to destination resilience

Abstract

Destination resilience is an emerging area of research, that supports tourism managers and policy makers in the development of more adaptive strategies in the face of vulnerabilities, growing risks and the uncertainty of crises and disasters. Risks at the local, national and international levels are becoming ever more systemic, unpredictable, with high (and rising) costs for recovery. Tourism managers and stakeholders at both the local and national level must be empowered through greater information sharing and responsiveness during the crisis/disaster. The article introduces Real Time Response (RTR) as a smart systems approach to advancing destination resilience offering a conceptual framework that synthesizes knowledge and develops the emerging body of work on Destination Resilience. RTR seeks to demonstrate how a stronger focus on smartness and real time can condense space and time and increase a destination's adaptive response capacity. RTR builds proactive and reactive measures to strengthen response efforts that will ultimately strengthen and mitigate the severity of impacts leading to a faster recovery and development. • RTR strengthens a destination's capacity to respond during disaster. • Interconnectivity, Interoperability and Intelligence underpin Real Time Response. • A destination's capacity to response to crisis is a litmus test of its resilience. • Value of real time & smart systems as part of a tourism crisis response mechanism. • RTR is a pathfinding conceptual framework contributing to destination resilience.