HAT304: Analysis of Disaster Impacts on Hospitality and Tourism Report

This report analyzes the impact of the Australian bushfires on the hospitality and tourism sector. It provides a concise overview of the disaster's consequences, including economic losses and environmental damage. The report critically examines the legal and regulatory issues that exacerbated the impact, such as climate change policies and bushfire management. It then proposes a comprehensive policy draft for hospitality and tourism governing bodies, outlining objectives like reinforcing tourism strength, supporting small businesses, and creating new attractions. The policy draft's significance is validated by emphasizing its potential to enhance industry flexibility, attract tourists, and mitigate future risks. The report highlights the importance of proactive measures, stakeholder involvement, and digital marketing to ensure the resilience and competitiveness of Australia's tourism sector in the face of disasters. The report is supported by various references to credible sources.

Emerging issues in hospitality and Tourism

Emerging issues in hospitality and tourism 1
Contents
A concise overview of the disaster and its impact on the hospitality and tourism sector.......................2
Critically examine and analyse legal and regulatory issues that may have contributed to the impact of
this disaster............................................................................................................................................2
Propose a policy draft for hospitality and tourism governing bodies by stating its objectives, and
involved stakeholders............................................................................................................................3
Provide a validation statement in which you must justify your recommended policy draft and its
significance............................................................................................................................................4
References.............................................................................................................................................6

Emerging issues in hospitality and tourism 2
A concise overview of the disaster and its impact on the hospitality and tourism sector
The hospitality like any other business is threatened by the natural disaster accompanied by
the significant and long-term consequences. In the past twenty years, disaster events have
exaggerated the hospitality and tourism sector around the globe. The disasters have put an
effect on the performance of the tourism industry contrarily in the form of a scale of
devastation, location and type of disasters. The natural disasters have been also found more
profound in the last few years and it can be attributed to the varying weather patterns around
the globe. The scale of damage relies on the large degree on the ferocity of natural disaster
(The Conversation, 2020). One of the recent disasters which have taken place in Australia is
‘Bush Fire’. The climate change is increasing sternness of extreme weather conditions in
Australia. The bushfires have a massive influence on the hospitality and tourism industry.
The impact of devastating bushfires on the hospitality and tourism industry has cost hundreds
of millions of dollars. Add on the images of smoke and fire carried globally are also
restraining to global visitors. Apocalyptic footage of outrageous fires, brave firefighters,
wounded animals and tourists in the smoke masks have covered news channels, front pages
on the newspapers and social media around the globe. The smoke caused by the incident
cloaked entire cities, and driven air quality to the unnatural levels. Almost twenty people died
in the fires with colonies of animals like koalas and flying foxes have been devastated
(Carbon briefs, 2020).
Australia has been ranked 4th in tourism. But at this time the economy is already delicate.
Bushfires burned for the weeks around the global heritage site of Blue mountains in NSW
resulted in driving away tourists. The news of the bushfire spread on social media resulted in
a falling number of tourists from 15-20. It affected everything from restaurants to hotels to
backpackers to cafes (Prime Minister of India, 2020).
Critically examine and analyse legal and regulatory issues that may have contributed to the
impact of this disaster
Climate change in Australia has exited conditions for fire and other climatic disasters. The
adaption measures have been taken for Bush clearance. The climate changes hold and
increase global temperatures. Bushfires have increased in harshness and frequency. The
causes of fire are several and straddling both natural inconsistency and climate change
instigated by persons, governments and companies (The Guardian, 2020). Despite the legal
framework and climate-concerned laws in Australia, bushfire still greatly outflows rules and

Emerging issues in hospitality and tourism 3
suppression. Due to the bushfire smoke, air pollution increased. Although there are laws for
the pollution arising from transport, industry, power generation and vehicles. But bushfire
smoke is something natural and outside of human control (Lawfare, 2020).
Bushfire took place in Australia put a substantial impact on nationally protected matters. It
burnt to Australia. The climate change worsened the bushfires and burnt more lands than
Amazon rainforest and California fires united. It prolonged to hear and drought extended
seasonal wildfire periods. Thee Bushfire also leads to a decrease in meat consumption by
almost 90% in order to avoid the catastrophic effects of climate change. Other than this,
Bushfire has resulted in devastating some of the key tourism issues of Australia such as East
Gippsland in Victoria and New South Wales south coast. The country fire of Victoria
evacuated East Gippsland which is viewed by the great number of tourists every year
(Australian Government, 2020). The fire also devastated the tourist cities comprising
Batemans Bay and Mogo. The issue has been faced in assisting local communities. The
bushfires even lead to heavy coverage overseas. The legal issues are faced by the nation as
holidays of the tourist were cut off due to Bushfires. There is a loss of productivity in the
hospitality and tourism sector which shows negative in the national accounts. The disaster has
even drastic effect on the insurance premiums. The insurer also reduced the exposure against
the floods, cyclones and tidal surfs and augmented the annual premium. The challenge in the
market situations in the insurance industry caused drops in insurance coverage (Chatham
House, 2020).
Propose a policy draft for hospitality and tourism governing bodies by stating its objectives,
and involved stakeholders
Vision:
Tourism is one of the principal parts of economic growth by positioning as a foremost
worldwide terminus.
Mission:
The develop Australia as an active, maintainable and most favoured tourist terminus by
providing high quality to the tourist by offering a pleasant advanced framework for
simplifying and hastening investments.
Objectives:
The policy draft for hospitality and tourism governing bodies has stated objectives:

Emerging issues in hospitality and tourism 4
 Tourism is of great significance in Australia. Therefore, remedial actions will be taken
to reinforce the strength of tourism in Australia.
 The tourism and hospitality industry will attain much-required assistance from
Bushfire recovery fund and protect to the jobs. The small businesses will be supported
by assisting to the get tourists travelling to Australia.
 The tourist hot spots will be renovated soon and tourism activities will be initiated on
a regular basis (Kim and Jeong, 2018).
 The quality management will be focused on customer satisfaction and regular service
delivery especially the organizations offering hospitality services.
 The domestic tourism marketing campaign will be implemented for the recovery from
Bushfire. People will be encouraged to holiday in Australia and support will be
offered to the affected communities and provinces. The states, territories and industry
partners will be assisted to maximise coordination (Peta Austarlia, 2020).
 The policy also comprises to create new attraction in the bushfire affected areas to
celebrate the uniqueness of the local community. It will give reason to the visitors to
come back along with offering the community a positive focus.
 The worst affected area will be improved by consultation with the national Bushfire
recovery agency. It will provide the prospect to reinforce identity in the wake of a
fire.
 The discounted fees and new incentive structure will be created to get more business
in the tourism and hospitality industry of Australia. The tourism business and tourism
wholesalers and retailers will be bringing together with the amalgamation of planned
business schedules and networking events (Cheng and Edwards, 2019).
 The international media outlets, foremost international TV shows and print media will
be assisted to bring familiarisation experience to the people. Most of the areas of
Australia is unaffected and urgency will be created to visit Australia (The Guardian,
2020).
Provide a validation statement in which you must justify your recommended policy draft and
its significance
The policy draft can be really effective and it will build flexibility and competitiveness of
Australia’s tourism industry after the Bushfire. The policy will result in the creation of new
opportunities for the tourism and hospitality industry of Australia. The policy draft can share
the objective with the federal, state and territory governments to maximise the contribution in

Emerging issues in hospitality and tourism 5
the hospitality and tourism sector. The policy can create a prospect to enhance customer
spending along with addressing supply-side factors. It will also construct competitive digital
capability Advancing robust and efficient digital marketing can be helpful to the hospitality
and tourism industry to remain competitive. The stakeholders will be involved to ensure to
take more advantage of online opportunities.
The policy drafted can have a role in increasing the number of tourists by building industry
flexibility, productivity and quality. It will enhance the capability of Australian tourism
operators to offer value for money experiences. The policy will also create new destinations
in the fire-affected areas to celebrate the uniqueness and positive focus to strengthen identity
in the stir of fire. The affected tourism operators will also be able to start operations in a fresh
way. These operators will be able to identify risks in an approachable manner. They can
construct a partnership between tourists and their accommodation. This way, the confidence
of the travellers can also be increased and associated risks can be condensed. When the
hospitality companies work proactively, the visitors can also underestimate the risk (UN
environment programme, 2020). Although the bushfires can not be eradicated measures can
be taken to reduce the seriousness of fire and the damage pursuing to the mitigation of
disaster in the form of bushfire. The national Bushfire recovery agency is also quite helpful in
helping those affected by the bushfires. The hospitality and tourism industry can attain
benefits and cope up with the worst effects of bushfires. The policy can attain significant
results with the increase in the number of visitors. The discounted fees and new incentive
structure can get more business in the tourism and hospitality industry of Australia within a
substantial period of time. The tourism business and tourism wholesalers and venders will
also be bringing together with the amalgamation of planned business schedules and
networking events.

Emerging issues in hospitality and tourism 6
References
Australian Government, 2020. Bushfire management and national environment law.
Available from https://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/publications/factsheet-bushfire-
management-and-national-environment-law [Accessed on 15/02/2020]
Carbon briefs, 2020. Media reaction: Australia’s bushfires and climate change. Available
from https://www.carbonbrief.org/media-reaction-australias-bushfires-and-climate-change
[Accessed on 15/02/2020]
Chatham House, 2020. Will a Devastating Bushfire Season Change Australia’s Climate
Stance? Available from https://www.chathamhouse.org/expert/comment/will-devastating-
bushfire-season-change-australia-s-climate-stance?
gclid=Cj0KCQiAyp7yBRCwARIsABfQsnQF9sxy1W58XNNzWVIPvR8gtFywLSB9IrSY2I
cEFdKaL_fOp1ZWylMaAmaVEALw_wcB [Accessed on 15/02/2020]
Cheng, M. and Edwards, D., 2019. A comparative automated content analysis approach on
the review of the sharing economy discourse in tourism and hospitality. Current Issues in
Tourism, 22(1), pp.35-49.
Kim, H.J. and Jeong, M., 2018. Research on hospitality and tourism education: Now and
future. Tourism Management Perspectives, 25, pp.119-122.
Lawfare, 2020. How Bushfires will affect Australia’s security. Available from
https://www.lawfareblog.com/how-bushfires-will-affect-australias-security [Accessed on
15/02/2020]
Peta Austarlia, 2020. The Link Between Bushfires and Slaughterhouses: Climate Change
Available from https://www.peta.org.au/news/bushfires-and-climate-change/?
gclid=Cj0KCQiAyp7yBRCwARIsABfQsnSRXJadfArtFRi33o64yzC1OnI6lIrjFP9qynO9ztsa
lNV8SCfSJxcaAjfBEALw_wcB [Accessed on 15/02/2020]
Prime Minister of India, 2020. Media Release. Available from
https://www.pm.gov.au/media/rebuilding-australian-tourism [Accessed on 15/02/2020]
The Conversation, 2020. Australia’s bushfire smoke is lapping the globe and the law is too
lame to catch it. Available from https://theconversation.com/australias-bushfire-smoke-is-
lapping-the-globe-and-the-law-is-too-lame-to-catch-it-130010 [Accessed on 15/02/2020]

Emerging issues in hospitality and tourism 7
The Guardian, 2020. Australia’s bushfire politics: the parties prevaricate while the country
burns. Available from https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/17/australias-
bushfire-politics-the-parties-prevaricate-while-the-country-burns [Accessed on 15/02/2020]
The Guardian, 2020. Australian bushfire crisis predicted to cost tourism industry hundreds of
millions. Available from https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/03/australian-
bushfire-crisis-predicted-to-cost-tourism-industry-hundreds-of-millions [Accessed on
15/02/2020]
The Guardian, 2020. Explainer: what are the underling causes of Australia’s shocking
bushfire season? Available from
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/13/explainer-what-are-the-underlying-
causes-of-australias-shocking-bushfire-season [Accessed on 15/02/2020]
UN environment programme, 2020. Ten impacts of the Australian bushfires. Available from
https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/ten-impacts-australian-bushfires
[Accessed on 15/02/2020]