The PATA India chapter plans to draw up a frame work for crisis management, which would have the stature and strength to draw in resources across the board, both in the government and private sector

The hospitality industry, which had resigned itself to ad-hocism pervading the crisis management in the tourism arena, may soon be wafted by winds of change. There is no cause for celebration yet. But, the fact that the issue is being seriously addressed by a body, which over the years has evolved a reasonably good partnership between the government and the industry - PATA India chapter - gives confidence that a permanent crisis management set up may be in place soon.

The chapter which has traditionally been headed by DG tourism and has all segments of the industry represented on it, is now led by DoT’s post. A major subject discussed at the very first meeting of the chapter (held in Hyderabad last year) after Rathi Vinay Jha took over, was crisis management. As a first step, it was decided to hold a seminar on crisis management with international participation so we could learn from the experience of other destinations. The seminar, which was held in the capital, had among the speakers, Martin Brackenbury, a senior functionary of the World Tourism Organisation (WTO) and Renton de Alwis, former chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism Board, who had masterminded the way the government and the industry in the island Republic had handled the crisis following the terrorist attack on Colombo airport.

Brackenbury unveiled the road map WTO had drawn up for crisis management, ranging from a united public-private sector response to effective use of the media in promoting confidence among travellers. The PATA chapter then set up its own crisis management cell under Jha, with industry veteran Inder Sharma as one of the members. At the chapter’s next meeting in April (in Chennai) the larger dimensions of crisis management like involvement of ministries other than tourism (like the health ministry’s intervention in the SARS crisis) were addressed. It became apparent that it is imperative to have a standing body with access to those wings of the government, which are directly or even indirectly affected by a crisis, like security (home ministry), air-transport (aviation ministry), travel advisories (external affairs), government revenues and tax reliefs (finance) and so on.
In the past, crisis management has been the exclusive concern of the tourism ministry and the industry. The fact, that the government also lost revenue on account of fewer tourist arrivals or that industry could survive better with some tax reliefs was totally ignored. Bereft of any support from the finance ministry, the department of tourism could only advise the industry - mainly hoteliers and tour operators - to drop prices, as the only panacea for surmounting a crisis. Lack of unity among the various sections of the industry has been of little help in making crisis management work.

So, what the PATA chapter has in mind, is to draw up a frame work for crisis management, which would have the stature and strength to draw in resources across the board, both in the government and private sector. Inder Sharma is preparing the frame work, which he will present to the chapter, which in its turn will place it before the government. The way the SARS crisis has overtaken tourism even before one could hail recovery from 11/9, highlights the urgency of a crisis management mechanism and might serve as an impetus to its early formation.

Understandably, Sharma is not willing at this stage to reveal the details of the framework he is preparing. He would like to wait till he has presented it to the chapter. He did say, however, that he would like the crisis management outfit to play a pro-active role and even suggest preventive measures if early warnings of a crisis were visible. Also, it should be government-led and industry supported, with funds coming from both partners.

In a related development, the Centre has finally woken up to the needs of Jammu and Kashmir, where tourism is the state’s mainstay and which has heroically been facing an unparalleled continuing crisis for a decade and a half. Prime minister Vajpayee, during his recent visit to Srinagar, announced a comprehensive revival plan to be worked out by a special committee consisting of tourism officials of the centre and the state as well as national and state level industry representatives. As many as 1,200 houseboats and 500 hotels will get long-term low interest loans for refurbishment.

Good Luck to PATA chapter and to J&K tourism.