The SADC Tourism Disaster Risk Management and Crisis Communication Strategy

This Approach is developed to provide coordination mechanisms and guidelines to the SADC Secretariat and Member States’ National Disaster Management Agency, National Tourism Administration (NTA), Destination Management/Marketing Organisation (DMO), and National Tourism Organisations (NTO) in managing disaster risks that affect the tourism sector. Further, there is articulated use of effective communications: to be alert of, plan for, respond to, and recover from disasters taking place in the respective and across Member States’ tourism sector; and their structural linkage to the SADC Secretariat. It is intended to develop an Approach that provides strategic direction in implementing risk reduction and risk-informed development measures and one that can swiftly be activated in instances of environmental; societal and political; health related; technological; economic; and other disasters affecting the tourism sector within the SADC region. While no single strategy can provide a guide for every disaster, this document provides a generic regional Tourism Disaster Risk Management and Crisis Communications approach. The SADC Member States are encouraged and expected to use this manual as a reference and guide for implementation and adjustment to the method of implementation accordingly. As each tourist destination is unique, it will have different issues to deal with which are pertinent within the tourism industry. There are some key areas of disaster risk management and certain shared concerns that are common across SADC Member States. The COVID-19 pandemic is a living example of such common concerns, due to its transboundary nature, and large scale social disruption and economic loss. This Approach draws on best practices from other regional tourism organizations including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC); as well as those of international organizations, notably the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Further, experiences from the SADC Secretariat and UNDRR are drawn. While this is a SADC regional approach, its domestication, operationalization and implementation rests with Member States. Accordingly, this approach adopts the position that each government has overall responsibility for its tourist destinations and the entire disaster risk management issues in those tourist destinations. However, individual tourism operators and related businesses are also expected to take the initiative in developing disaster risk management practices to protect their businesses. The tourism businesses, together with the Member States’ NTA/ DMO/NTO have the responsibility to prevent and mitigate new risks, reduce the impact of existing risks, and increase resilience while reducing disaster losses

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