Tourism and natural disaster management process: perception of tourism stakeholders in the case of Kumamoto earthquake in Japan

ABSTRACT

Tourism has a reciprocal relationship with natural disasters. The study aims to investigate the role of tourism as a strategy in the disaster phases based on (2001. Towards a framework for tourism disaster management. Tourism Management, 22, 135–147) and Ritchie (2004. Chaos, crises and disasters: A strategic approach to crisis management in the tourism industry. Tourism Management, 25, 669–683)’s disaster management frameworks in the case of the earthquake occurred in Kumamoto Prefecture in Japan in April 2016. The analysis was based on interviews with twelve informants and stakeholders in tourism development collected in Kumamoto in summer 2018. The results suggest that the tourism industry contributes differently across the phases of a disaster but is mainly significant in terms of information provisions, communications and emergency accommodations for tourists. More fundamental changes may be observed in the long-term recovery and resolution phases, whereby tourism is most important in information collection, experience learning in disaster, institutional reform and strategy of sustainable tourism development and poster-disaster destination marketing. The study further advances the existing disaster management framework through the enrichment of knowledge from tourism stakeholder perspective. Empirically, the research findings inform tourism development and sustainability strategy of Kumamoto area after a rarely occurred earthquake disaster.

Highlights

• The significance of tourism’s contributions to all phases of the disaster process is different.

• The tourism industry mainly contributes to information provisions, communications, and preparation targeting at tourists.

• Tourism can function in an emergency to provide tourists with news about safety, immediate evacuation and emergency accommodation.

• In long-term recovery, tourism contributes to more fundamental changes in initiating strategy of sustainable tourism development.

KEYWORDS:

• Disaster recovery
• earthquake
• Japan
• Kumamoto Prefecture
• natural disasters
• tourism sustainability

Acknowledgement

This research is supported by the Endowment Fund Research Grant of the United College, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. The authors would to thank the interview participants in this study, particularly the representatives from the Kumamoto Prefectural Government, the Aso Volcano Museum, Kurokawa Onsen, the Yachiyoza information counter, Tokai University, and all the other local respondents in Kumamoto City and Prefecture.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Endowment Fund Research Grant of the United College [grant number NA].