New Tourism Emergency Management Framework to Guide Industry During Crises
In conjunction with Emergency Preparedness Week, the industry-led Tourism Emergency Management Committee (TEMC) has released a new BC Tourism Emergency Management Framework to help reduce the industry’s vulnerabilities and risks and lessen the potentially adverse impacts to visitor experiences during emergencies.
The framework provides a unified structure to support tourism partners and visitors on matters related to the four pillars of emergency management:
Mitigation
Preparedness
Response
Recovery
The framework also supports the Province of British Columbia’s comprehensive emergency management plans by strengthening integration of visitors and the visitor economy before, during, and after an emergency event. This includes addressing visitors’ unique needs during emergencies, improving tourism industry preparedness, managing long term destination reputation, and reducing economic impact to tourism businesses.
As B.C.’s visitor economy continues to recover from the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a strong need for a coordinated approach to emergency management for the tourism sector, particularly given anticipated future crises such as wildfires, flooding, heat domes, and another pandemic.