Post-disaster Tourism Research Articles

Sustainable Livelihood in Post-Disaster Tourism: Lesson Learned from Merapi Tourism Site

This research aims to explore the practice of the Sustainable Livelihood Tourism Framework (SLTF) in post-disaster management in the Mount Merapi area, Sleman, Yogyakarta. The focus of SLTF achievement in this study encompasses ecological, economic, sociocultural, and institutional dimensions. Research on the SLTF has indeed become a significant focus in tourism studies. However, most of these studies are confined to a single research methodology, resulting in limited scope and a lack of comprehensive discussion. This study used a mixed-method approach with an explanatory sequential design. The study found that tourism positively impacts the increase of economic activities in the community. However, on the ecological side, tourism presence degrades environmental quality due to issues such as carbon emissions, industrial waste, climate change, the greenhouse effect, illegal logging, and illegal mining. Furthermore, other policies were identified, such as mineral water mining permits that degrade the environment and the establishment of landfill sites in the Kaliurang area, which spoils the natural beauty. Tourism practices also have a negative impact on institutional aspects, as the community perceives government policies as too complex and not meeting their expectations. Lastly, in the socio-cultural aspect, tourism preserves traditional values, as tourists tend to respect them. This mixed-method approach underscores the need for balanced strategies that address environmental concerns while maximizing economic benefits, improving institutional involvement, and supporting socio-cultural enhancement.

Regenerative tourism as a post-disaster response: lessons from Cammino nelle Terre Mutate

Disasters, resulting from natural hazards, have a profound impact on communities and places, revealing vulnerabilities while shaping unique identities. Regenerative tourism offers promise in aiding recovery and revitalization, supporting local economies, and fostering a transition to alternative development approaches. Drawing on emerging conceptual frameworks in regenerative tourism, this paper proposes their application in post-disaster contexts. It explores walking itineraries as potential regenerative practices, embodying spiritual and political acts of re-signifying place. Using the Cammino nelle Terre Mutate case study, which traverses rural villages in central Italy struck by violent earthquakes in 2009 and 2016–2017, the study examines the application of regenerative thinking in post-disaster tourism practices. It illustrates how walking itineraries, when guided by regenerative principles, can facilitate the coexistence of humans and the environment, which includes natural hazards as intrinsic components of a dynamic living system. This study highlights the role of communities in enhancing system capacity, revealing the inherent potential of affected areas beyond recovery, and paving the way for tourism as part of a regenerative process. However, tourism’s effectiveness depends on nurturing a regenerative mindset and harnessing transformative capacities to stimulate local economies and imaginaries, prompting a re-evaluation of tourism’s role in local development.

Methods and value of storytelling for stakeholders in post-disaster tourism scenarios

PurposeThe tourism sector continues to be an engine for economic growth for communities (Jenkins, 1980), and in post-disaster scenarios, destination can be overwhelmed with challenges, particularly for the local community. However, it is essential to seek the most effective path of recovery for individuals and communities. Gaps in contemporary post-disaster literature remain, as the focus often centres on infrastructure and economic developments (Cox and Perry, 2011). This paper aims to address such gaps by offering new ideas around the value of recovery focusing more on the victims, their stories and the role of tourism.Design/methodology/approachAs a theoretical paper, the applied method is described as a convenient approach to data collection and analysis. The methodological reasoning is down to the selection and examination of sources used to establish new theoretical understandings. The study applies a pragmatic research approach to embrace the spectrum of views that are present within the constructivist and positivist. The pragmatic philosophical approach supports multi-disciplinary studies and ensures a more holistic consideration of social conditions is embraced.FindingsThis paper offers new knowledge and ideas for post-disaster recovery scenarios. It presents a model that incorporates a range of (traditional, digital and immersive) methods and platforms in which stories can be shared and presented. It argues that allowing victims to share stories in different formats could support rehabilitation while also providing stronger, powerful narratives for tourists, leading to more effective tourism experiences.Originality/valueDisasters leave individuals and communities in devastation and with potentially lifelong trauma. In rehabilitation of victims is a vital ingredient to the recovery of a destination and its social fabric. This research offers new ideas around the use of digital technologies to generate stories of value that not only support victims of disasters but also offer visitors the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of challenges and difficulties of dark places, often seen as a key part of the visitor experience and motive to places of tragedy.

Enhancing post-disaster tourism marketing communication in Aceh Jaya Regency

Background: Aceh Jaya Regency is currently deeply committed to developing regional tourism as part of the community’s economic recovery following the 2004 tsunami disaster. The Aceh Jaya government has established five tourism villages and identified ten flagship tourism destinations, which are supported by Aceh Jaya Regent Regulation No. 10/2019 on Halal Tourism. Marketing communication is not only useful in connecting tourism businesses with consumers in the post-disaster tourism industry but also essential for emphasizing the differentiation of tourism products and providing added value to potential tourists. Purpose: This research is urgent because it provides an in-depth analysis of post-disaster tourism marketing communication management in Aceh Jaya Regency using the SOSTAC approach. Methods: This research used qualitative methods, with data gathered through interviews, focus group discussions, and field observations. Moreover, data analysis employed thematic analysis to categorize certain themes and obtain analytical generalizations. Result: The research showed that the Aceh Jaya government has implemented a post-disaster tourism management process that includes various aspects, such as identifying tourism potential, empowering local communities in the tourism sector through partnership programs, developing supporting infrastructure, and promoting tourism. This is done because the local government is fully aware that sustainable tourism development will have a positive impact on the economic growth and welfare of the people of Aceh Jaya. Implications: The findings of this study suggest that adopting the SOSTAC approach in future post-disaster tourism marketing communication strategies, supported by policy, can have a multiplier effect on the economic growth of the community.

Geographies of mobility justice: post-disaster tourism, recognition justice, and affect in Tohoku, Japan

This article investigates instances in which mobility justice is highlighted in post-disaster tourism in eastern Tohoku, Japan, a coastal area almost completely destroyed by the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami. After this unprecedented disaster, some of these towns have directed their recovery efforts toward the development of post-disaster tourism as a means to counteract outmigration and loss of jobs. By using the broader frame of mobility justice in tourism and geographies of affect, this article seeks to showcase how affective relations between people and post-disaster places, and between international tourists and locals, can foster a better understanding of the big and small injustices enacted at different scales in the area. In particular, this article focuses on the potential of ‘recognition justice’ to rebalance the scale between top-down policies and local needs. Post-disaster tourism performances utilize the mobility of information through global media, spreading survivors’ narratives, stories, and images. A politics of affect built around landmarks in the post-disaster landscape the tsunami has contributed to the creation of immobile nodes, which become locus of contestations and opportunities to leverage mobility justice and broader recognition justice for the local populations.

Post-disaster tourism development and scenario planning for the quality of life of residents

Desarrollo del turismo post-catástrofe y planificación de escenarios Para la calidad de vida de los residentesResumenPropósitoEste estudio tiene por objetivo explorar la influencia del desarrollo del turismo post-catástrofe en la calidad de vida (CdV) objetiva de los residentes del condado de Wenchuan, simular la tendencia a largo plazo del desarrollo del turismo tras la catástrofe y la CdV basándose en tres escenarios políticos propuestos, y formular algunas sugerencias prácticas para promover el desarrollo del turismo sostenible.o.Diseño/metodología/enfoqueEste estudio utiliza el enfoque de dinámica de sistemas para desarrollar un modelo de dinámica de sistemas denominado “turismo-economía-medioambiente-vida” (TEMV) utilizando cuatro subsistemas: “el subsistema económico”, “el subsistema turístico”, “el subsistema medioambiental” y “el subsistema de vida”.ConclusionesLos resultados muestran que la influencia del desarrollo del turismo post-catástrofe en la CdV objetiva es compleja. Basándose en la teoría de Butler sobre el ciclo de vida del destino, la influencia del turismo post-catástrofe en la CdV objetiva presenta un cambio no lineal estrechamente vinculado a las etapas de desarrollo de los destinos turísticos. Se demuestra que el índice de CdV aumentó después de una disminución inicial en la primera etapa (2009-2013) y luego disminuyó en la etapa posterior (2013-2019). Las simulaciones de TEMV basadas en tres escenarios diferentes muestran que la actual trayectoria de desarrollo del turismo no es ideal. El escenario de sinergia, que destaca la importancia del desarrollo armonioso del TEMV, es el escenario óptimo.Originalidad/valorEste estudio llena la brecha existente en la literatura sobre la influencia del desarrollo del turismo post-catástrofe en la calidad de vida (CdV) objetiva desde la perspectiva de la dinámica de sistemas. La modelización del desarrollo turístico y la CdV objetiva contribuirá a una comprensión integral de si el desarrollo turístico puede mejorar, y cómo, la CdV de los residentes en las zonas afectadas por catástrofes

Examining Filipinos’ intention to revisit Siargao after Super Typhoon Rai 2021 (Odette): An extension of the theory of planned behavior approach

Super Typhoon Rai devastated Siargao, Philippines, and affected human lives and the economy. The study evaluated Filipino tourists' intention to revisit Siargao after the typhoon hit the island. A total of 502 Filipino tourists answered sixty-four (64) measures derived from nine (9) constructs. Through structural equation modeling (SEM), 13 out of 14 hypotheses were found significant. The results revealed that awareness of Super Typhoon Rai's impact had a significant positive effect on perceived travel constraints and risks. Crisis management significantly and positively affected perceived travel constraints and risks. Hedonic motivation produced a significant positive effect on attitude and perceived behavioral control. Perceived travel constraints had a significant positive effect on attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. Meanwhile, there was an insignificant relationship between perceived travel risks and attitude. Nevertheless, perceived travel risks significantly negatively affected perceived behavioral control. Lastly, attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control generated significant positive effects on the intention to revisit. The generated results aimed to benefit the government, local businesses, and residents in developing post-disaster tourism recovery plans that would boost Siargao's economy and tourism sectors. Furthermore, the presented strategies would help future tourists adapt to Siargao's post-disaster situation.

Residents’ fresh start mindset and attitudes towards tourism after a natural disaster: the case of the volcano in La Palma

ABSTRACT Although past research on natural disasters has investigated tourists’ perceptions and behaviours, few studies have explored residents’ attitudes, motivations and mindsets in rebuilding a destination after a natural calamity. Building on consumer behaviour research, we examine the role of the fresh start mindset as a psychological mechanism for residents that must overcome the consequences of natural disasters in tourist destinations. We conducted a quantitative study using a survey with a sample of 460 residents of La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain) during the volcanic eruption of 2021. The results show that residents’ fresh start mindset influences post-disaster tourism activities and shapes their perception of the positive and negative impacts of the tourism industry.

Framing the sublime as affect in post-disaster tourism

This article frames dark tourism experiences employing the geographical concept of sublime-as-affect. We contend that the sublime has features that allow us to analyse it as an affect, an intensity of feeling that circulates in-between bodies, which can be experienced poignantly in places of death, and lead to transformative experiences. By presenting accounts of tourism-related stakeholders in post-disaster Tohoku, Japan, devastated by an earthquake, a tsunami, and a nuclear meltdown, we overview moments in which the sublime-as-affect is experienced. Findings suggest that while the dilapidated and abandoned landscapes of Tohoku evoke a negative representation, they also demonstrate a potential for generating transformative affects, which can become a vehicle for meaning in post-disaster tourism encounters.

Cross-cultural Communication Through Affect: The Potential for Postdisaster Tourism in Japan

The success of tourism encounters can be aided by devising cross-cultural strategies so that conscious feelings (emotions) and subtle impressions (affects) of locals are communicated effectively to tourists. This article investigates how postdisaster tourism narratives, practices, and landmarks can be used to "attune" the feelings of culturally different groups. After the Triple Disaster of 2011 in the Tōhoku region of Japan, the recovering communities have used tours as a way to support the local economy, confront their loss, and overcome trauma. As global attention moves to new disasters, communities feel the need to attract more visitors and create new jobs for the locals. However, this has proven difficult: differences in expressing emotional responses caused tensions and dissatisfaction among locals and internationals, as locals feel misunderstood and tourists do not see their expectations met. This hinders the tourist encounter, which is seen by some of the communities as crucial, as they feel that "being able to tell their stories" and "being remembered" is a central tenet of the recovery process. In the case of Japan, we argue, affect can constitute an appropriate means to negotiate meaning and memory between Japanese and internationals. Affective elements are often overlooked by academics, as they are considered volatile and unstructured. There is no research that utilizes geographical and interdisciplinary theories of affect to gain an in-depth understanding in the ways to communicate heritage and memory cross-culturally in disaster sites, as well as rigorous and appropriate approaches to affective methods. Affect can benefit both locals and visitors, as it bridges understandings of the delicate and complex issues pertaining to disaster memory and heritage, and may lead to more socioculturally and politically sustainable approaches to planning, development, and management of tourism.

Out of the Dark: The Challenges of Branding Post-Disaster Tourism Ten Years after the Great East Japan Earthquake

The act of visiting disaster sites by non-locals is often controversial, such as the promotion of so-called dark tourism or post-disaster tourism. After the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Disaster, the affected communities in Northeast Japan encouraged travel to the disaster sites as a way to support the region financially and pass on lessons learned in the disaster for disaster mitigation. This paper discusses how the promotion of post-disaster tourism through novel brands such as “Bosai (disaster mitigation) Tourism” or “Hope Tourism,” conversely emphasizes the positive aspects of disaster-related tourism rather than the “dark” or negative aspects. Drawing on ethnographic field research, analyses of tour descriptions and contents on websites offered by national and prefectural disaster tourism, participant observation at disaster tours, and interviews with local community members and tour organizers, this paper discusses the framing as well as the potential benefits of disaster-related tourism for local recovery and disaster mitigation, while exploring the challenges and burdens this form of tourism may inflict on the local communities. We argue that, despite the ethical challenges dark tourism may generate, confronting tragedies through dark or post-disaster tourism encourages visitors to connect with uncomfortable pasts, potentially helping to prevent similar tragedies from recurring as a result.

NEW MODEL FOR LOCAL POST DISASTER TOURISM GOVERNANCE: Evidence from Indonesia’s Merapi Volcano

This article examines the dynamics of local post-disaster tourism governance in areas on the foothills of Merapi Volcano in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, which is one of the world’s most intensively active volcanoes. In this research, the author invites the readers to discuss the success achieved in local collaboration through transforming disaster life into a profitable tourism site. They face difficult situations amid government limitations in handling this post-disaster development. Using qualitative descriptive analysis, this study offers a new local-based collaboration model, especially for the post-disaster tourism governance in developing countries. Result of the study showed that local collaboration cannot be achieved in an instant, rather involves a process that is influenced by local wisdom. This article makes positive contribution to public policy literature and is essential for policymakers at the lower level and concerned about local-based development and empowerment

“Double-edged sword”: the effect of cultural distance on post-disaster tourism destination recovery

Espada de doble filo”: el efecto de la distancia cultural en la recuperación de un destino turístico después del desastrePropósitoAlgunos investigadores han encontrado que los desastres pueden tener la “bendición del efecto disfraz” de que algunos sitios de desastre se transformen en destinos turísticos más populares;Sin embargo, ningún estudio ha analizado la heterogeneidel “efecto de bendición disfrazado”.El objetivo de este estudio es explorar y determinar el efecto de la distancia cultural en los flujos turísticos internacionales hacia un destino turístico después del desastre, lo que podría explicar este fenómeno heterogéneo.Diseño/metodología/enfoquese empleun modelo de regresión de umbral y un enfoque de diferencias en diferencias (DID) para analizar los datos de llegada de turistas internacionales de 2000–2016 de trece países de origen principal A la provincia de Sichuan antes y después del terremoto de Wenchuan de 2008 en China.Conclusionesel efecto de la distancia cultural en las llegde los diversos países de origen después del desastre siguió un patrón de “espada de doble filo” no lineal en forma de u, en lugar de mostrar una relación lineal simple.Más notablemente, el desastre pareció tener un efecto más positivo en las llegde países con distancias culturales más grandes, mientras que el efecto en las llegde países con distancias culturales más cortas fue negativo.Originalidad/valoreste estudio encontró que la distancia cultural podría explicar el heterogéneo fenómeno de la “bendición disfrazada” y que tenía impactos tanto positivos como negativos en la recuperación de un destino turístico;Es decir, se encontró un “efecto de doble filo” de la distancia cultural, que podría ayudar a las organizaciones de comercialización de destinos turísticos y a los departamentos de administración a diseñar estrategias de comercialización dirigidas adecuadamente para la recuperación de destinos turísticos después del desastre.

From tragedy to triumph: tsunami mitigation and Bōsai (disaster prevention) tourism in Tarō, Japan

Tarō is one of many small fishing communities on the northeastern coast of Iwate Prefecture which was decimated by Japan’s catastrophic tsunami on 11 March 2011. Historically, in most parts of the world, including Japan, post-disaster sightseeing has often been portrayed as a form of Dark Tourism emphasizing death, loss and devastation. However, in Tarō, community-led tourism post-2011 has become the catalyst for a positive, fortifying, identity-building economic development strategy infused by hope for the future referred to locally as Bōsai (Disaster Prevention) Tourism. Using an ethnographic approach, this paper argues that, unlike many post-disaster tourism sites, Bōsai Tourism in Tarō builds around place-based practices and traditional community knowledge to provide a positive, satisfying touristic experience for visitors, and gives local residents unprecedented yet tangible social, economic, and political goals to strive for as they embrace the future, designed to transform local tragedy into a local triumph.

Post-Disaster Mitigation and Recovery in Tourism Destinations: Learning from The Lombok Earthquake

This research's main objective is to study various patterns of collaboration between stakeholders (central and local governments, tourism industry players, and affected communities) in the post-earthquake mitigation and recovery processes in tourist destinations in West Nusa Tenggara. This research methodologically uses a literary study approach. The relevant information has been collected from various news sources from electronic media, and then the information is arranged chronologically and thematically so that it can be studied further. In the research results section, we describe flashbacks of the Lombok earthquake disaster and then explain what has been done by the stakeholders. Finally, what should be done next in the post-disaster tourism destination recovery agenda? This study's insights may help policymakers, tourism businesses, and affected communities consider strategic collaborative measures in post-disaster recovery.

Resilience and sustainability interventions in selected Post-Haiyan Philippines: MSMEs perspective

The Post-Haiyan government aims for tourism development and MSME rehabilitation to recover Eastern Visayas Philippines from the economic decline before and aggravated by typhoon Haiyan. Using a quantitative survey to gain tourism MSMEs' responses validated by a qualitative case study from the government perspective, this paper delved into the impact of government interventions among post-Haiyan tourism MSMEs using a Structural Equation Model (SEM). Results showed that most post-disaster government interventions did not cover many tourism MSMEs. Tourism MSMEs, however, are affirmative that if the government pushes for sustainable and resilient interventions, it will boost their future performance on the road to recovery. With the policy recommendations gleaned from the findings of the study, this paper proposes a sustainable, resilient framework for post-disaster tourism MSMEs as catalysts towards sustainably resilient tourism destinations and communities.

Reconstituting Communities: Localized Folk Performing Arts and Matsuri Festivals in Post-3.11 Japan

Based on two years of ethnographic fieldwork primarily in Sendai, Japan, this paper focuses on matsuri festivals and folk performing arts, which have been documented as one of the earliest musical activities to reemerge in coastal areas of Tohoku, Japan following 3.11 because of their deep rooted history and regional distinctions. This paper presents the ways in which these cultural properties are being supported by government organizations such as the Agency for Cultural Affairs, as well as individual scholars and researchers of Tohoku’s folk performing arts. While localized folk performing arts practices have helped to rebuild local identity and given dispersed communities a reason to regularly reconvene, some post-3.11 festivals such as the Tohoku Rokkonsai (Six-Soul Festival) have developed to also showcase Tohoku’s folk performing arts as a means of demonstrating tenacity to a global audience and to try to boost post-disaster tourism and economic redevelopment. This paper considers how music making can contribute towards relief and recovery in the continuing crisis of disaster and advocates for further consideration of cultural heritage as integral to, rather than, separate from social and environmental contexts that foster human resiliency following catastrophic events. Keywords: ethnomusicology; folk performing arts; disaster relief; Japan

Bridging community resilience and sustainable tourism development via post-disaster education tourism in rural Japan

Post-disaster tourism is an important reconstruction strategy for communities affected by natural disasters. In shrinking rural communities that also experience depopulation and aging as general trends, the need to develop proactive resilient practices for disaster management and sustainable development is a pressing requirement. Our longitudinal, multi-method study carried out in a Japanese rural coastal town affected by the 2011 Tsunami sheds light on the attributes and mechanisms by which a post-disaster education tourism initiative which was led and co-delivered by the community in collaboration with a variety of stakeholders enhanced community resilience and led to sustainable practices of post-disaster reconstruction. We provide empirical insights into how community resilience and sustainable tourism development were achieved through the careful development and balancing of economic, social and environmental capital. Our study contributes to existing debates regarding the relationship between community resilience and sustainability in the tourism field by illustrating how community resilience and sustainability are mutually re-enforcing dimensions which can be achieved via post-disaster education tourism.

Personalising disaster: Community storytelling and sharing in New Orleans post-Katrina tourism

This paper seeks to extend existing discussions of post-disaster tourism in New Orleans by considering how competing narratives of disaster operate within the tourist experience available in New Orleans. More specifically, we explore how personal reflections and the collective memories of a community are practiced and mobilised as occasions for tourists to connect with and share in memories of disaster in post-Katrina New Orleans. We suggest that in a city where tourism has long been vital to the economic, social and cultural make-up of the place the power of sharing has emerged through personal narratives, artefacts and experiences that, more than a decade after the disaster, are woven into the tourist experience by individuals such as tour guides, curators of exhibitions, street artists, and participants in anniversary ceremonies.

Can post-disaster tourism development improve destination livelihoods? A case study of Aceh, Indonesia

Destinations are vulnerable to natural disasters, which can result in damage to infrastructure and built facilities, negative destination images, and a difficult time of recovery. Recently, a growing number of destinations have incorporated tourism development in their disaster relief efforts and used post-disaster tourism as a strategy to enhance local livelihoods and build community resilience. Guided by the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework for Tourism (SLFT), this study analyzed the case of Aceh, Indonesia, a destination that had been struck by a severe natural disaster and developed tsunami tourism as a strategy to recover. The data were collected through focus group interviews among local stakeholders. Based on the SLFT, this study employed a deductive approach to analyze the data and identified six themes. The findings not only validated the applicability of the SLFT to a post-disaster tourism development context, but also revealed how tourism could contribute to various community assets and a resilient destination in the aftermath of a crisis. The study also underscored the importance of local culture and religion during the recovery process. Based on the findings, further discussions are provided regarding the dynamics involving sustainable development, post-disaster tourism, and resilient destinations.