Towards a destination tourism disaster management framework: Long-term lessons from a forest fire disaster

Abstract

This article is a follow-up study investigating the long-term experience of a tourism industry affected by a major forest fire disaster that occurred during the summer of 2003 near Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. The original study determined the preparedness, responses, and recovery methods of the local tourism industry from interviews with 104 local tourism businesses, and a review of relevant government, media, and organizational reports. This article summarizes a follow-up study undertaken to investigate what the local tourism industry experienced over the long-term after the disaster, what recovery strategies were initiated, the impacts that remained, and how tourism disaster management has changed. The follow-up study includes repeat interviews with 60 of the original 104 businesses, two and a half years after the disaster. A number of surveys conducted by relevant tourism agencies, 1 year after the disaster, are also examined to provide information on intermediate impacts. The aim of this paper is to contribute to what is recognized as a shortage of research investigating the long-term experiences of tourism industries after disasters. The lack of disaster management in tourism is also addressed and a framework proposed to increase tourism disaster management at the destination level.