Gulf Oil Spill –Impact on Tourism

In addition to being an environmental disaster, the oil spill in the Gulf is affecting travel and tourism  in and around our coastal areas.  Potential visitors are beginning to reconsider travel to the threatened areas in anticipation of beaches being impacted. Today’s Miami Herald article Florida Tourism in Fear Over Gulf Oil Spill likens this response as similar to a hurricane threat. Florida state tourism officials face  difficult decisions in how to address this issue particularly in regards to how to disseminate information to the public (and potential visitors).

I thought that the author poses an interesting question:

“As tourists mulled their summer plans, Florida’s tourism officials debated the best way to influence those decisions. The fight mirrored familiar tension that builds whenever a hurricane looms: how much information about a potential catastrophe is too much information?”

What do you think?

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/05/1613588_p2/fla-tourism-industry-awash-in.html#ixzz0n4MfOLLb

Particularly for our hospitality students — below is a suggested list of resources where you can find more about management strategies used for issues affecting tourism and travel:

Books :

Restoring tourism destinations in crisis : a strategic marketing approach / David Beirman G155.A1 B385 2003

Safety and security in tourism : relationships, management, and marketing / C. Michael Hall G155.A1 S25 2003

Databases :

ABC-CLIO eBook Collection

GreenFILE

Hospitality & Tourism Complete from EBSCO

Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure Collection from Gale

Environmentally Friendly

The GreenFILE database is the first place to look when you are trying to locate reliable information on all aspects of the environment and related issues. EBSCO has made this database freely available. It contains scholarly and general interest titles, along with government documents and reports. The contents emphasize the positive and negative aspects of the relationship between human beings and the environment. Also available in this resource is information concerning the connection between the environment and agriculture, education, law, health and technology. Typical subjects searched include global climate change, green building, pollution, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, and recycling. Each of us can help reduce the carbon footprint we create everyday. GreenFILE is a source that can show us how.