S

O
H
M Unit 6
T

Crisis Management In Tour, Preparation of

Feedback or Guest Comment, Sheet, Filling the
Guest Comment Sheet, Analysis of Comments of
Guest, Service providers, Tour Escorts/ Tour
Managers
S
O Crisis Management In Tourism
H  Tourism seems to be particularly susceptible to negative events
M and, since there is always a crisis somewhere in the world, the
industry appears to be under an almost permanent threat with
T the certainty of yet another crisis already looming somewhere.
 2006 terrorist bombings in Egypt and Mumbai or in London in
July 2005 during the European peak holiday season and again
on Bali in October of the same year, ‘crisis in tourism’ appears
yet again to be a timely topic. The spectrum of recent crises
impacting on the tourism and hospitality industry is large,
ranging from terrorism attacks in Madrid (2004), Jakarta
(2003), Bali (2002) and the ‘September 11 attacks’ (2001),
natural disasters such as the Boxing Day Tsunami affecting
large parts of coastal South East Asia in 2004 (Sharpley 2005),
bush fires in Australia’s capital Canberra (2002)
S
O
H Common measures of reactive crisis management in
M included
government aid packages.
T
the promotion of domestic tourism and here in
particular the marketing of specific niche products
development of new forms of tourism such as
sustainable tourism and ecotourism.
Coordination and collaboration between key
stakeholders also appear to be crucial for the effective
management of a crisis situation.
S
O Managing Crisis on Tour
H Establish action guidelines
M Define a crisis situation
T Establish monitoring systems for potential crises
Consider the political, social, and economic
environments of host locations
Name specific decision makers
Detail action plans for as many potential crises as
possible
Prioritize action items during a crisis
Designate an allotted timeframe for completion of tasks
Designate a clear “owner” for each task
S
O
H  Identify all stakeholders in planning and action stages
M  Establish training for a crisis management team
 Create a communication strategy during crises situations
T
 Provide a detailed resource repository
 Provide opportunities for improvement in systems and
procedures

All tour companies within the travel industry are unique. Thus, it
is important to tailor your tourism crisis management plan to your
business’s specific needs. A skilled legal advisor can evaluate
your services and make sure your plan addresses all the situations
your employees and customers may encounter.
S
O Preparation of Feedback or Guest Comment
H Comment Card: A carefully planned and well-written
M comment card is a great tool to allow customers to
T express their opinions and provide valuable feedback on
the customer experience. Comment cards can be a way
to receive complaints and suggestions. Use a
professional printer to print the comment cards, and
make sure they're simple and easy to understand. Make
sure you add the option for customers to mail in their
cards. Keep a stack of customer comment cards near
your reception or exit point. In-store comment cards are
only one method for soliciting feedback. Ask questions
about things you are willing to change, and follow
through on those changes.
S
O
H
M
T
S
O Preparation of Feedback or Guest Comment
H Feedback Form: Customer feedback is essential to
M improving your product, your delivery, and your
T understanding of your users. It’s fundamental to good
customer service.
1. Leave plenty of white space: The form should appear
uncluttered and easy on the eye. A cluttered form scares
people away because it looks time-consuming and hard.
S
O
H 2. Label the form fields well: To successfully collect
M feedback, make sure what you’re asking is clear and
T concise. This includes being visually clear: Placing
each label close to its corresponding field reduces the
time it takes for a user to complete the form.
3. Don’t make any fields compulsory: Making it as
easy as possible for users to provide even small
amounts of feedback. If the user doesn’t want to
answer one of the four questions, don’t stop them from
submitting the form. Never forget that customers are
doing you a favor—they don’t owe you anything.
S
O
H 4. Set the tabbing order: This means marking up the
M form fields during development to create a logical
T flow. This is helpful for desktop and mobile users who
wish to tab through the form using the keyboard rather
than lifting their mouse or finger to move to the next
field.
5. Make it compatible with mobile devices: An online
feedback form should always be responsive (i.e., it
resizes depending on the device it’s being viewed on).
Most feedback form templates should automatically
adjust to the user’s device.
S
O
H
M
T
S
O
H 6. Write little, but well: Cut down the number of questions
M in the form so it only includes those that have the clear goal
of gaining a better understanding of your users’ experience.
T The fewer questions, the better.
7. Find out what you don’t know: The most useful feedback
helps you learn something you didn’t already know. What’s
hidden in your product that you aren’t aware of? Do your
customers use the product differently than you expected?
8. Create consistent rating scales: If you include more than
one question with a rating scale, make sure that the scales
are consistent from question to question. If 1 is the best and
5 is the worst in one question, don’t change the scale from 1
to 10 on the next question.
S
O
H Personalize the form: Use the information you already
M have about your users to personalize the feedback
T process (e.g., “John, can you help us improve our
service by answering some questions about your
experience upgrading your account?”).
S
O
H
M
T