Recovery From Natural Disaster: Travel Writers And Tourist Destinations

Mass media complicate tourist industry disaster recovery, as coveragepassesfrom hard news to feature writers. A survey of travel writers following the 1989 San Francisco earthquake identifies their recovery stage attitudes and newsgathering techniques. The authors suggest strategies to build loyalty to assist destinations in lessening negative media coverage. The pervading influence of the mass media is felt keenly in times of natural disaster, especially when the disaster strikes a destination dependent upon the tourism industry. Public in-formation transmittal is a component of the warning, impact, and recovery stages of disaster, as noted by Murphy and Bayley (1987) in their case study of the Mount St. Helens eruption and East Kootenay, British Columbia forest fires. Widespread national or international media coverage can accompany both impact and early recovery stages and can sensationalize the disaster. This immediate media coverag