The Impacts of Natural Disasters on the Tourism Industry Essay Example

The Impacts of Natural Disasters on the Tourism Industry Paper Taiwan Earthquake of 1991 Perhaps the most serious of earthquakes in Taiwan[ls history struck in September of 1991. Tourism Management Magazine stated that the tourism economy took the hardest hit after the traumatic events Of the earthquake, and especially the international tourist economy. Major tourist attractions like National Palace Museum and Chiffon were ruined by the earthquakes. The National Palace is a place of rich cultural irritate and the Chiffon are walking paths with beautiful scenery. It was not solely Taiwan structural damage that hurt the tourism economy, however; it was also all of the negative media coverage. The media portrayed Taiwan to be in horrible condition and said Taiwan lost all of its beauty. The reason media companies blow everything out of proportion is so their companies get more attention, not everything they actually say is true. In order for Taiwan to mitigate the severe circumstances the media put them in they put a plan in to action to reinvigorate their tourism economy. This plan included sending out undress of representatives all over the world to personally give interviews on TaiwanÃ'Å¡s current state. Taiwan also invited corporate touring agencies to personally take tours of the current state Taiwan was in. They also gave projections of when everything would be tourist ready. This helped Taiwan out tremendously because they 5 | Page of Natural Disasters and on the Tourism and Hospitality Industry didnt give those corporate agencies a chance to forget about their tourism industry. Also, the city of Taipei holds a Taipei International Travel Fair each year. We will write a custom essay sample on The Impacts of Natural Disasters on the Tourism Industry specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Impacts of Natural Disasters on the Tourism Industry specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Impacts of Natural Disasters on the Tourism Industry specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer This fair has hundreds of vendors and booths set up with tourism professionals. It is a four day fair and right after the tragic events of the earthquake Taiwan successfully held the fair. The fair attracted over 60,000 visitors and became a huge success. This obviously worked wonders for the both the tourism industry of Taiwan and the international tourist industry of Taiwan. Another huge help for the Taiwanese tourism industry is the commercial that CNN ran in Asia and all over North America promoting their annual Johnnie Walker Classic Golf Tournament. The slogan during the commercial was After the quake, Taiwan goes on. This helped immensely bring in international tourists and business people. The commercial was mainly showed in Japan because that is Taiwan]s major source of inbound tourism. Taiwan]s market segment was right on target because after these ads were shown their international tourism improved drastically. The Taiwanese government provided a substantial amount of aid to the tourism sector by coming up with plans to help rebuild major tourist attractions that were ruined by the earthquake. Human of Tourism Management Magazine states, The government played a significant role to help bring facilities in scenic areas back into operation efficiently. They allowed for tourism companies in earth quake stricken areas o apply for low interest loans to big time banks, especially The Bank of China. Once the major areas of tourism were approved to be safely traveled to by tourists, there was a national announcement made. This also helped the inbound 6 | Page of Natural Disasters and on the Tourism and Hospitality Industry tourist flow grow. Another helpful contribution that was made was a significant discount in tickets to get to Taiwan to Japanese and Chinese travelers, two of their biggest inbound markets. This also gave significant help to the inbound tourist rate. The Taiwan tourism economy today seems to be doing better Han ever. They have rebuilt themselves. They are considered a must see destination in Asia and seem to be flourishing tremendously. Japan Earthquake of 2011 Just recently in March of 2011 Japan experienced a horrible earthquake that was similar to Taiwan]s earthquake of 1 991. However, Japans earthquake was a lot worse measuring a whopping 9. 0 on the Richter scale. It is truly a shame that this happened to Japan at this time because BBC stated, the Asia Pacific region was expected to drive the global tourism industry in 2011 BBC also forecasted nine million tourists to pay a trip to Japan this year. This obviously cannot happen anymore because of the amount of damage the earthquake wreaked on Japan. On top of the structural damage caused to Japan, a gas leak in the Fuchsia nuclear power plant has caused radiation levels to sky rocket. These harmful radiation levels have caused an evacuation to the area around the power plant, which means there will be more of a detrimental impact on the tourism industry than there already is. No one will be willing to risk traveling to Japan for a vacation while due to the skyrocketed radiation levels. However, all hope is not lost for Japan and its tourism economy. The good deeds that Japan did or Taiwan tourism economy in their time of trouble and helplessness will 7 | page of Natural Disasters and on the Tourism and Hospitality Industry reciprocate eventually. It does not help that the united States government is advising all US citizens to not travel to Japan for now, but after a few years things will all get better. This situation can be compared to that after Taiwan;s. After Taiwan received the K to allow travelers in and it was nationally announced, their tourism economy improved tremendously. It may and probably will take a significant more amount of time for this to happen, but it is inevitable that it ill. If New York Citys tourist economy was able to bounce back after the terrorist attacks of September 1 1 the, any countryÃ'Å¡s tourism economy should be able to bounce back. It is the very beginning stages of rebuilding for Japan, but there is definitely hope for the future. Market Rebuilding After a natural disaster has struck a certain area, it is very difficult to get everything back to normal again. In most cases, the part that takes one of the biggest hits is the tourism sector Of the economy. Tourists will obviously not be inclined to travel somewhere disaster has struck, whether it is out of fear of happening gain or even for their own personal safety. A lot of people just do not think it is worth the risk. The combination of the area as a whole losing their tourism market and needing to rebuild, it seems like it is impossible to get everything back to normalÃ'Å¡. However, Louisiana is a great example of how there is hope to rebuild their economy. Hurricane Strain struck Louisiana in 2004 and caused much destruction to their landscape and their people, especially because New Orleans offered such a different and culturally rich tourist destination. The Monthly Labor Review quotes, Tourism had been one of the right spots in the New Orleans economy. Pre-Strain, the tourism economy was booming 8 | Page of Natural Disasters and on the Tourism and Hospitality Industry and provided numerous amounts of jobs for New Orleans locals. After Strain, it has been studied by the Monthly Labor Review and confirmed that the tourism market lost the most amount of jobs out of all the industries in New Orleans. Although the tourism industry may have taken one of the biggest hits after Strain, they have done an excellent job with rebuilding it. After the devastation of Hurricane Strain, there was lots of help to rebuild the cities ND make everything back to normal. They launched a new ad campaign with the slogan Fall in love with Louisiana all over again. This is a heartwarming slogan that is aiming for visitors to not be afraid to come back and that everything is pretty much back to normal. A new addition to their tourist options post Strain was to offer tours to the devastated parts that were hit by the hurricane. This is a strategic approach to bring in more money for rebuilding, the tourists see the devastation and then feel bad and then give money. They were in need of lots of visitors in order to jump start the economy.