5
Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Fundamentals
https://eipublication.com/index.php/jsshrf
OPEN ACCESS
SUBMITED
19 October 2024
ACCEPTED
13 December 2024
PUBLISHED
06 January 2025
VOLUME
Vol.05 Issue01 2025
COPYRIGHT
© 2025 Original content from this work may be used under the terms
of the creative commons attributes 4.0 License.
TYPE
Original Research
PAGE NO.
5-10
Crisis Management in The
Tourism Sector
Haitham Nehme Zgheir
Asst. Lect., Ministry of Education, General Directorate of Vocational
Education, Iraq
Abstract:
Our world today is characterized by the
overlap and acceleration of civilization in various
sciences, professions and knowledge, and we have
begun to talk about the era of the knowledge economy
in which we deal with information as commodities; we
call it the era of information and communications, and
sometimes we call it the era of globalization, and thus it
is an era in which means of communication, control and
information processing have developed, and the world
has come closer. The tourism system operates in a
climate of movement, change and cultural and
technological diversity. The tourism sector is the most
affected by stability and global peace. It is exposed to
many complex risks and crises, internally and externally.
Keywords:
Crisis Management, Tourism Sector, travel
company, airlines, entertainment facilities.
Introduction:
Our world today is characterized by the
overlap and acceleration of civilization in various
sciences, professions and knowledge, and we have
begun to talk about the era of the knowledge economy
in which we deal with information as commodities; we
call it the era of information and communications, and
sometimes we call it the era of globalization, and thus it
is an era in which means of communication, control and
information processing have developed, and the world
has come closer. The tourism system operates in a
climate of movement, change and cultural and
technological diversity. The tourism sector is the most
affected by stability and global peace. It is exposed to
many complex risks and crises, internally and externally.
Its causes and results lead to backwardness from one
country to another, from one region to another, and
from one organization to another, depending on the
nature and specificity of the work of this organization,
whether it is (a hotel, a tourism and,, travel company,
airlines, entertainment facilities, etc.). With a well-
studied scientific plan to manage risks and crises, it must
Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Fundamentals
6
Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Fundamentals
https://eipublication.com/index.php/jsshrf
face all types of risks, whether tourism, economic,
social, environmental, or health. There is a constant
need to develop with the level of problems it faces to
preserve the elements of available and future tourism
demand and supply in different countries and to
inspire them positively in solving these problems with
a management mindset that is compatible with the
type of problem or crisis through the availability and
preparation of all elements of successful dealing with
these risks and crises.
Hence, the importance of our research topic, especially
our applications to the tourism sector.
Section One: Definitions and Concepts of Crisis
Management
First: Definitions of Crisis
A crisis is a fateful turning point during an event
characterized by a noticeable charge or a sharp delay.
It is linked to old tensions that must descend to be
replaced by new connections and causes quantitative
and qualitative changes in this event. Crisis, as an
ancient term, dates back to Greek medicine. A turning
point is a decisive decision in the patient's life and
indicates a fundamental and sudden change in the
human div. In the sixteenth century, the term was
commonly used in medical dictionaries. It was quoted
in the seventeenth century to indicate a rise in tension
in relations between the state and the church.
By the nineteenth century, it was frequently used to
indicate the emergence of serious problems or plans
that marked a turning point in developing political,
economic and social relations. In 1937, the
Encyclopedia of Social Sciences defined a crisis as a
severe and sudden disruption in the relationship
between supply and demand for goods, services and
capital (1). The term was later used in various branches
of the humanities and came to mean:
A set of circumstances and sudden events that involve
a clear threat to the status quo established like things.
It is the critical point and the decisive moment at which
the fate of development is determined, either for the
better or for, the worse (such as life or death, war or
peace), to find a solution to a problem or its explosion.
(2)
Alastair Buchan defined a crisis in his book Crisis
Management as an apparent or verbal exchange
between two or more parties, each trying to turn the
course of events in his favour. Coral Bill defined the
crisis in her book, A study Management, The
Conventions of Crisis in Diplomacy, as the escalation of
conflicts to a level that threatens to change the nature
of international relations between states. Robert
North points out that the global crisis is a sharp
escalation of action and reaction, i.e. a process of
dissent that causes changes in the level of effectiveness
between states and leads to a remembrance of the
degree of threat and coercion. Crises often precede
wars, but not all lead to wars if they are settled
peacefully, frozen, or calmed down. However, it can be
studied as the confrontation of two or more states in the
same confrontation. As defined by (Joann Spanier) John
Spanier, it is a situation in which a state demands a
change in the status quo, which is resisted by another
state, which creates a high degree of probability of war
breaking out. (3) According to the definitions
mentioned, the crisis, in the researcher’s view, is a
sudden situation in which relations between two or
more parties move towards confrontation in an
escalating manner as a result of an existing conflict
between them in interests and goals, or as a result of
one of the parties undertaking a challenge to the other
party’s work, threatening its interests and vital values,
which requires a rapid counter-action to preserve those
interests, using various means of pressure at different
levels, whether political, economic, or even military.
The word crisis (crisis) in the English language is also
derived from the Greek word (crisis), which is the noun
of the verb (kinesin), and it means the point or moment
that requires making a decision in the sense of the
decisive moment or turning point. (4)
A crisis is another problem that often requires more
significant efforts to address or manage it. In the event
of failure to solve it, its results are more dangerous, such
as the outbreak of war or revolution, which has become
studied in international universities such as strategic
management or crisis management and how we deal
with the problems that obstruct our lives as individuals
or institutions or countries so that all preventive
measures are taken to prevent them from occurring or
plan to address them in the event of their occurrence.
We move in dealing with problems from the emotional
to the active mentality. Some believe that an unresolved
problem for an extended period turns into a disaster for
natural, human or technological reasons, so the crisis
results from catastrophe. Crisis management is (the
cornerstone of efficient management). This is how the
French management professor Louis Henri Fayol
expressed it in 1916 regarding the goals of safe
management, which are represented in protecting
money and people from theft, fire, floods, crimes, and,
in general, all social disturbances and natural disasters
that threaten the progress of the organization and the
fate of its work. It is considered the last of all measures
capable of providing security for the project and
reassurance for the individual. (5) crisis management
appeared in the mid-fifties of the last century, especially
in insurance. Events, articles and seminars followed one
Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Fundamentals
7
Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Fundamentals
https://eipublication.com/index.php/jsshrf
after the other, addressing various aspects of risk
management at the theoretical and practical levels in
light of the radical changes that occurred at all
technological, economic and social levels and the
growing awareness of society and public opinion of the
risks arising from technological development or
nature, and the reflection of this in the legislation of
countries, as is the case with the risk of environmental
pollution or professional liability of all kinds, and even
the risks arising from violence, terrorism and wars.
Countries began to hold conferences and seminars to
raise these issues and study their profound and
adverse social, cultural, political, economic, and even
health and media effects. Ways to address them and
achieve the severity of their impact on societies, the
costs of addressing them, and the importance of the
need to exchange experiences among them in this
field. (6)
From what has been mentioned, crisis management, in
its contemporary concept, is a broad framework for
addressing the risks facing the organization or any
economic unit. Therefore, risk management in its
contemporary framework represents a new qualitative
phenomenon. This phenomenon cannot take its
practical dimensions except by developing a
comprehensive mentality towards risks, dealing with
all their aspects, and drawing rational ways to address
them within an integrated program. This requires the
availability of good skills, more accurate information,
and advanced communication and coordination
systems between the concerned parties within the
organization.
It is important to clarify the importance of analysis in
crisis management. Analysis is the process that enables
the identification of risks, the analysis of those risks
using the appropriate method, and then the
development of the appropriate solution that
eliminates that risk or reduces its effects. This process
increases the organization's success and achieves its
goals with the fewest possible problems and risks.
Second: Crisis Management Concepts
Crisis management has been an issue in itself since
ancient times. It was a manifestation of humans
dealing with emergency or critical situations that
humans faced after being challenged by nature or
other humans. It was not known by crisis management
but rather by different names, such as leadership
acumen or good management. This practice was the
actual test of a person's ability to confront crises and
deal with dynamic situations with the creative energies
they unleashed and the stability of their ability to
innovate.
The simple concept of managing something is to deal
with the best possible results that achieve the interests
of the person in charge of management. Hence, crisis
management means dealing with the elements of a
crisis using a combination of practice tools. Pressure and
reconciliation. To achieve the state's goals and preserve
its national interests, it is also an attempt to implement
a set of innovative procedures, rules and foundations
that go beyond the usual organizational forms and
routine management methods known to us to control
the crisis, control it and to direct it by the state's
interests. (7) It was found that there is a specialization
added to the group of specializations that are
customarily considered to be management tasks. This
specialization is (crisis management), which is equal to
the other specializations, such as planning and
supervision. Here, it can be said that crisis management
is the set of practices that can be applied when a
situation or condition arises that represents a radical
change in traditional stable conditions and that these
practices are formulated in the form of a plan that
depends on the availability of several experiences and
begins with analyzing and diagnosing the crisis, reaching
its components and characteristics and what is expected
from its effects and that this analysis must be done with
precision so that everything built on it is sound, accurate
and productive. This requires awareness and culture at
all levels to manage crises and overcome them with
scientific and administrative tools, avoiding their
negatives and benefiting from their positives. (8)
Second Section: Types and Causes of Crises
First: Types and Classifications of Crises
Crisis management experts believe that there are four
main types or groups of crises that, if they can be
identified, can be prevented, their consequences
mitigated, or they can be used:
A- Humans when they make mistakes.
B- Machines when their performance malfunctions.
C- Electronics when their functions are disrupted.
D- Nature when it gets angry.
As for classifying crises, proper crisis management is to
determine the nature or types of the crisis, but
determining the type of crisis is not an easy process
because the crisis, by its nature, involves several
intertwined
administrative,
economic,
human,
geographical, and political aspects. Thus, the
classifications are multiple and varied, with a
multiplicity of criteria used to determine the types of
crises. (9)
Types of crises:-
1.
Economic crisis
2.
Political crisis
Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Fundamentals
8
Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Fundamentals
https://eipublication.com/index.php/jsshrf
3.
Commercial crisis
4.
Socio-cultural crisis
5.
Natural environmental crisis
6.
Technological crisis
7.
Health crisis (10)
Crises can be classified based on the following criteria.
1.
Type and content of the crisis:- There is a crisis
that occurs in the economic or political field, and
according to this criterion, an environmental crisis, a
political crisis, a social crisis, a media crisis, or an
economic crisis may appear. Within each type, sub-
qualifications may occur, such as the financial crisis
within the economic crisis.
2.
1. Geographic scope of the crisis: - Using a
geographical criterion leads to what is known as.
3.
Local crises occur within a limited or narrow
geographical scope, such as in some distant cities or
governorates, such as a bridge collapse or a train
accident.
4.
Then, general national crises affect society,
such as environmental pollution or a military threat
from an external enemy.
5.
6.
2. Size of the crisis: - The criterion of size or
magnitude is common in classifying crises, as there are:
7.
• A small or limited crisis that occurs
within
one of the organizations or institutions of society.
8.
•
A medium crisis.
9.
•
A significant crisis.
10.
The criterion of size or magnitude depends on
material standards, such as losses and damages
resulting from a traffic crisis or disruption in the
generation of electrical energy.
11.
3. The time frame for the emergence and
impact of the crisis This criterion depends on the age
of the crisis. In this context, there are two types of
crises.
12.
•
Rapid explosive crisis occurs suddenly and
quickly and disappear, such as a vast fire outbreak.
13.
• Slow, prolonged crisis: This crisis develops
gradually and appears on the surface, for example,
problems between workers and management
regarding working hours, overtime pay, and working
conditions, and entering into negotiations between
the two parties and the failure of negotiations. (11)
14.
Causes of crises
15.
Depending on the causes leading to crises,
they can be divided into:
16.
• Crises that result from the organization's
actions or inaction, including administrative and
technical errors or failure to achieve standard operating
methods.
17.
•
Crises resulting from general trends in the
external environment.
18.
•
Crises resulting from outside the organization
and the organization has no reason for their occurrence.
19.
Crises resulting from natural disasters such as
floods, earthquakes, and volcanoes. (12)
20.
The parties to the crisis are based on the nature
of the party or parties involved in the crisis or its impact
on the state. A distinction can be made between
internal crises and external crises. Suppose the matter
is related to one of the aspects of the external
sovereignty of states or the involvement of the external
party in the situation. In that case, the state crisis is an
external international crisis, such as land and air
conflicts, wars, the threat of using military force, and
severing diplomatic relations. However, the crisis is
internal if the matter is related to the internal
interactions of political and societal forces. That
distinction is the most crucial classification of crises
within the framework of external crises. A strategic
international crisis is a situation of deterioration in the
elements of the internal or external environment of the
parties to the crisis that represents a threat to the values
and main goals of the state and may be accompanied by
significant impossibilities to use comprehensive military
force with a limited presence to make decisive decisions
regarding this deterioration or dangerous threat.
Second: - Tourist Crises
21.
Before starting the topic of tourism crises, we
must know tourism after defining the crisis and its types.
22.
Tourism is essential in Iraq because it plays a
role in all social, economic and political aspects.
23.
Definition of tourism: The World Tourism
Organization (UNWTO) defines tourism as a set of
relationships and services resulting from travel and
residence to the extent that the tourist needs
permanent residence and his tourism does not entail
any paid activity. (13)
24.
It was also defined as the movement of
individuals and money from one place to another and
from one country to another for various purposes other
than work temporarily for no less than 24 hours. (14)
25.
It is clear from the definitions of tourism that it
is a vital economic activity that depends on increasing
the currencies of places outside their usual
environment.
26.
Tourism, like any activity in life, is exposed to
Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Fundamentals
9
Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Fundamentals
https://eipublication.com/index.php/jsshrf
risks and crises that vary in severity, causes, and
results. These crises affect tourism at all levels globally,
regionally, and locally.
27.
Tourism is characterized by its calculation and
tremendous impact on external risks and crises that
the elements of tourism demand and supply are
exposed to in the country, which means that the
tourism and hotel organization must face complex
political, social, economic and environmental risks and
crises in addition to its constant endeavour to serve
customers and follow their desires and achieve the
desire at the same time.
28.
The third topic is the crises facing the tourism
sector.
29.
Before starting to the types of crises facing
tourism and hotel organizations, we must clarify the
concept of the tourism environment that affects the
performance of the tourism organization, whatever
the nature and specificity of its work.
First: The Tourism Environment
The interest of researchers in the elements or entities
of the environment led to the emergence of the
concept of the view, where it was possible to view the
tourism organization as a system whose resources are
in the form of inputs from the surrounding
environment to provide them on the other hand as
outputs in the form of tourism and hotel services.
There may also be job opportunities that the
organization can specialize in from the environment in
which it operates and the threats or obstacles that it
may be exposed to, and this requires the necessity of
prior administrative preparation and the preparation
of appropriate administrative strategies and policies to
deal with them.
The concept of the environment in a comprehensive
manner is that it is all relevant forces that lie outside
the borders of the tourism organization, and what is
meant here is the relevant forces are all variables or
entities that affect the performance of the tourism
organization. The environment in which organizations
carry out tourism activities is usually characterized by
four essential characteristics referred to in English as
FOURDS, which are:
1.
Difficultsb
2.
Dangerous
3.
Dynamic
4.
Divers
The environment that carries these characteristics
constantly changes, as the difficulties are specific. The
danger is not exact; the movement is a forward
change, and diversity means the absence of borders. It
requires the various tourism organizations to develop
an integrated plan to manage these risks and crises and
to work hard to find appropriate solutions to mitigate
the duration of the effects of these risks and crises after
studying their causes and results and developing
appropriate alternatives to contain the social,
environmental and economic problems left by these
risks. Because the tourist is the axis around which the
tourism process revolves and because he is primarily
looking for security and reassurance in addition to his
search for pleasure and comfort, and if the factor of
political, security, economic, and even health instability
is missing, the problem of lack of confidence in all the
efforts made to attract him to the tourist region or
country emerges. A study on the issues that tourists are
exposed to showed theft of luggage from hotels. Theft
at airports and food poisoning from travellers who
became ill after eating food in hotels.
Crises that the tourism and hotel industry may be
exposed to
1. Fires, floods, hurricanes and earthquakes. 2.
Industrial disasters, gas leaks or chemical pollution.
3.
Murders, rapes and crimes committed against guests,
tourists or workers alike.
4.
Bacterial or germ contamination of food.
5.
Wars, terrorist incidents and widespread destruction.
6.
Media risks and deterioration and distortion of the
country's or tourism organisation's reputation. ( )
The tourism system is part of a more extensive system
that directly or indirectly affects and is affected by it.
Therefore, it was intended that many of the main issues
that occupy the mind and interest of the global system
at all political, economic and scientific levels affect the
tourism system, which requires confronting the risks
and crises that each issue produces.
Crises that each of these issues produces.
1.
Environmental risks issues and environmental
imbalance.
2.
differences between developed and developing
countries, especially in production and technology.
3.
Foreign investment issues according to the conditions
of developing countries' incentives.
4.
Comprehensive development and sustainable
development issues.
5.
Competition
issues
and
the
concept
of
comprehensive quality.
6.
Regional conflict issues and how to end them.
7.
Ethnic and religious conflict issues.
8.
Terrorism and extremism issues.
9.
Wars.
Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Fundamentals
10
Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Research Fundamentals
https://eipublication.com/index.php/jsshrf
10.
Risks of the spread of epidemics and diseases and
their effects on global health that threaten individuals,
institutions and countries.
It is clear from these issues that risks and crises facing
the tourism sector can result, which require careful
study to know the causes and results and ways to
address the effects resulting from them at the global,
regional and Arab levels because they constitute a
terrible mistake that threatens tourism with
destruction if appropriate measures and peaceful
plans are not taken to manage them.
CONCLUSION
At the end of our humble research, we conclude that
the tourism sector has been exposed to many different
crises, affecting the tourism movement and leading to
a decrease in tourism demand, negatively affecting the
local and global economy of the countries receiving
tourists. These crises are of many types, including
natural and natural disasters such as earthquakes,
volcanoes, floods, economic, environmental, health,
technical, technological, and epidemic crises. To focus
on the crises that the tourism sector is exposed to, we
propose some recommendations, including: -
1.
Spreading awareness and principles of risk
management and crisis management culture in all Arab
countries
and
through
the
proposed
crisis
management centres for all components and branches
of the tourism sector in them, which includes holding
seminars and cultural training programs for all upper,
middle and executive administrative levels as a duty
and responsibility for everyone and the possibility of
studying them in universities for a specialist in dealing
with crisis management.
2.
Qualifying human elements, especially at the highest
levels in the Arab tourism organization, in training and
exchanging experiences.
3.
Developing a guide to the risks and crises that the
Arab tourism organization is exposed to and the
location of their occurrence in the future, relying on
experts in modern advanced information programs to
predict expected and emergency crises to support
decision-making
centres
with
accurate
and
appropriate information to manage them.
REFERENCES
A- Sayed Mousa, Crisis Management and its
Applications in the Tourism Sector, Tourism and Hotels
Annual Book, Alexandria Knowledge Establishment,
1998, p. 80.
Dr. Hussein Ali, Creativity in Solving Problems, Dar Al-
Rida, Syria, Damascus 2001, p. 5.
Dr. Jack Samouri, Crisis Book, Beirut Publishing House,
Lebanon, 2011, p. 71.
A- Sayed Mousa, Crisis Management, same source.
Dr. Hussein Yazbek, Modern Principles and Theories in
Organizational Management, 1st ed., Beirut, Lebanon,
2009, p. 211.
Dr. Hussein Al-Dafaei, Crisis Management, Al-Taqwa
Newspaper, Issue 129, 2003.
Dr. Tariq Taha, Hotel Management, (Contemporary
Introduction), Al-Maaref Establishment, Alexandria,
Egypt, 2000, p. 133.
Dr Jack Samouri, same previous source.
General information about crisis management via the
website. WWW.Me3ady. Com.
Al-Quraini, Tourism and its Types, 2000, p. 178.
Al-Hanawi, Hotels, 2000, p. 29.
A- Muhammad Al-Banna, Economics of Tourism and
Leisure Time, Menoufia University, Egypt, 1998, p. 61.
Dr Mona Omar, Performance of the Tourism Sector in
Times of Crisis, 1998, p. 122.
