Disaster Recovery Marketing Tips for Tourism Businesses

Disasters like bushfire, drought, floods and cyclones ravage our nature and cause destruction to peoples’ lives and businesses. In regional communities, tourism plays a significant role in the regions’ prosperity and sometimes is the number one driver of economic development in that area.

Sadly tourism, an industry that is comprised of 90% small and micro businesses, is harshly impacted following a crisis like the Australian bushfire seasons of 2019 and 2020 and visitor confidence is decimated. The road to recovery can be very slow and it can take up to two years and longer to return to normal tourist visitation levels.

Dealing with the immediate priorities, in some cases, just to survive can be overwhelming for small business owners and they are in shock as well and who wouldn’t be in the current disaster crises. Communities across Australia have been traumatised by the Australian bushfire crisis impacting regions in Queensland from September 2019 and all eastern States throughout December and January 2020 and still the fires continue. And the number of regions that are enduring ongoing drought conditions and lack of water is heartbreaking and we send our love and support and want to help where we can.

Recovery means different things for different people.

In some cases, the business has had to close its doors to physically rebuild infrastructure before it can re-open and trade again.
In other cases, the business is able to keep operating, but would-be visitors to the region are afraid to visit, believing it may not be safe or that there is nothing to enjoy given the fire damage.
Often this is not true, but it is consumer perception and perception for your customer is reality for them.

Depending on where the business is at in these scenarios there are things they can do to restore the confidence of would-be visitors to their region and their business Time is of the essence in these situations, meaning it’s important to start communicating now to minimise the downturn in visitation.

Liz Ward, CEO of Tourism Tribe has provided in the below key principles to follow, which she has nicknamed SHOCC.

As part of our support of the industry, we have previously shared this helpful article and commencing on Monday 20th January we will be posting a daily series of disaster recovery marketing and communications tips starting in the lead up to the free “Road to Recovery” online workshop we are running on 7th February 2020.

The SHOCC principle

SHOCC is a disaster marketing principle designed to get you in the right headspace to develop appropriate marketing content following a bushfire, drought, flood or other event.

The principles we’d like you to apply in your recovery marketing see link for SHOCC principle

Watch the video below to understand what Tourism Tribe is currently doing to help tourism operators affected by the downturn in business caused by the Bushfires

To make it easy for your colleagues and us to share your stories and updates tag @TourismTribe and #tourismrecovery on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Tip #1: Share your status with visitors

Provide a factual update on the status of your business, in the context of the bushfire or any natural disaster is affecting your region that your market has likely seen in news reports. You know your area best and in light of a natural disaster, it becomes your responsibility to share the information you have with your audience.

People who are not familiar with your region are not going to be on top of what’s happening there so you can give them guidance and reassurance by acknowledging the situation and giving them the facts.

Give an honest account of what’s happening with your business and your area. Are you open or have you had to shut your doors temporarily? Are you close to the danger or far away? If you are a tour operator, have you had to reroute any of your tours or everything business as usual?  If the fires are nearby, provide information about your proximity to the danger and any road closures that visitors should be aware of. It’s also important to let people know what you are doing to stay on top of emergency advice.

The key here is to try to imagine what your audience is thinking and what they’re worried about. They are likely to be concerned about the possible need to evacuate, about air quality, about whether other businesses and attractions in the region are still operating. You can address these concerns through some social media posts by putting up a notice on your website. Consider accompanying your post with a photo of your staff outside with big smiles ready to welcome guests.

Your audience will appreciate your honesty and openness about the situation if you share this kind of update.

Tip #2: Write a blog post

You need to get the message of the ‘current situation’ in your region out there, to the top of the search engines and to your audience. The easiest way to do this is through a blog post.

Your blog post should answer a specific question about what guests can expect during their next visit. It is a good idea to use a specific upcoming holiday (Australia day long weekend, Labour day long weekend, Easter, etc) as a suggestion for their next visit. So an example of your blog post heading might be, “What you can expect when visiting *Our Business* during Labour Day weekend?”

Plan out your post using dot points:

What was affected by the fires?
How were you affected by the fires?
What has not been affected that guests can include in their itinerary? Provide links to nearby attractions and businesses.
What else can visitors currently see and do?

Use images within your blog post. Of course, we don’t want to scare the visitors away, provide context for the photo by using an appropriate caption, for example, ‘This photo was taken in the nearby national park one month after the fire, look at all the regrowth already!’. If you have relevant videos to share, include them! Consider embedding a google map into the post.

Write your post using language that is appropriate for your audience (no local acronyms that they will not understand. And don’t forget to optimise your blog post for search engines.

Finally, milk your blog post for what it’s worth! Don’t share the post all at once on your social media channels, break it down into parts and spread it out to give you lots of content. Send it to local media outlets and your local tourism organisation as well as to other businesses in your area who may not have written their own posts. And of course, don’t forget to send it to your email database and include a link to it in your email signature.

You can contact The Tourism Tribe or @lizward for further information and access to the Road to Recovery post disaster marketing workshop and support for tourism operators.