Tourism Risk Management Strategy for the Asia-Pacific

TOURISM RISK MANAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR THE ASIA-PACIFIC 
Media Release Issued by the APEC International Centre for Sustainable
Tourism

Brisbane, Australia, June 20, 2003 -- In light of the recent terrorist
attack on Bali and the SARS epidemic, the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation 
(APEC) forum is taking a lead role in delivering a new Risk Management 
Strategy for use in tourist destinations and other areas affected by natural 
or man-made catastrophes.

Leading researchers from the APEC International Centre for Sustainable
Tourism (AICST) are developing this Risk Management Strategy with assistance 
from APEC government agencies and NGOs, and key private sector interests in 
insurance, law, media and management. 

Australian Professor Jeff Wilks from The University of Queensland leads the 
team of research experts on behalf of the Cooperative Research Centre for 
Sustainable Tourism, who are the appointed project managers. Further 
collaboration will be forthcoming from James Cook University (AUST), Hong 
Kong Polytechnic University (HK), and the University of Hawaii (USA).

The strategy will be based on worldwide experience in risk management and 
crisis recovery, particularly the lessons learnt from 11 September 2001, the 
more recent terrorist attacks on Bali, SARS and natural disasters that impact 
on the 21 APEC member economies. 

The strategy will be delivered by AICST to all tiers of government in the 21 
countries of APEC by September '03. Each government will be able to 
incorporate the strategy into its risk management and crisis recovery 
planning. 

APEC member economies will also be assisted by the World Tourism
Organisation (WTO) and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) to
disseminate the strategy to the region's tourism industry groups and
operators. The implementation of guidelines and procedures from the Risk 
Management Strategy will better prepare the Asia Pacific tourism industry to 
deal with future crises.

"Tourism traditionally has little expertise in the area of risk management. 
The unique aspect of this international project is that it draws on the 
successful partnerships in other areas of government and industry to assist 
tourism in dealing effectively with unexpected events", says Professor Wilks.

Funding partners for this important APEC program include Dept of Industry, 
Tourism & Resources & AusAID (Australia), the World Tourism Organization 
(WTO), the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), and the Ministry of 
Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Korea.

AICST is the tourism research centre representing 21 APEC economies. It is 
established by APEC to undertake collaborative research on issues that impact 
on the future of tourism in the Asia Pacific region.

Further details about the APEC International Centre for Sustainable Tourism 
and the APEC Tourism Working Group are available at:
http://www.apecsec.org.sg/workgroup/tourism_upd.html

# # #

For more information contact:

Ian Kean, AICST Executive Director, in Brisbane on +61 7 3870 7595 (Office), 
+61 7 3870 8272 (Fax). 

E-mail:  ianckean@bigpond.com

Christopher Hawkins, APEC Secretariat Media Adviser, in Singapore on +65 9179 
4590 (cellular) or +65 6772 7620 (office). 
E-mail: ch@mail.apecsec.org.sg 

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