| dc.description.abstract | Over the past fifteen years, the cities of New York, New York, and New Orleans, Louisiana, have experienced a devastating disaster. New York watched helplessly as terrorists crashed two airplanes into the World Trade Center in 2001, while New Orleans was submerged by the waters of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Both of these cities are consistently considered major tourist destinations within the United States, and both of these cities struggled significantly to bring tourists back after their respective disasters. The field of disaster recovery as it relates to tourism destinations has not been studied much, and these two disasters have not been compared. Each city adopted its own plans for recovery, yet both followed Faulkner's framework, consisting of six different phases: pre-event, prodromal, emergency, intermediate, long term, and resolution. Ultimately, each city handled some situations better than the other. These two cities, as well as every city across the United States and around the world, can learn from the triumphs and pitfalls experienced in the aftermath of 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. If a city hopes to recover in the tourism industry, it must first take care of the basic needs required of its locals. Cities must adopt disaster contingency plans before a disaster is ever impending. They must regularly test these plans through simulations and practice drills. Coordinated communication is key, as is a physical emergency office location. When it comes to developing a media plan to bring visitors back, the process must begin almost immediately after the disaster has struck so as to not delay the tourism industry recovery efforts. Every city must be prepared, for disaster can strike anywhere and at any time. | |
