Factors Affecting Tourism: Natural Disasters

There are many factors which affect tourism globally; this report
aims to discuss the impact natural disasters can have on
tourism, looking in particular at certain events such as the
Boscastle floods and the eruption of the Soufriere Hills Volcano.
Tourism is all temporary visits to another region (domestic) or
country (international) lasting more then 24 hours [A-Z ] this
includes visits for holidays, sport, education religion, business
and visits to family and friends,
A natural disaster is a natural event with catastrophic
consequences for living things in the vicinity.
[encyclopedian.com] it can affect tourism for obvious reasons as
it destroys the natural environment and the things which the
industry relies on.
There is a very close link between tourism and natural disasters as
in the event of a natural disaster tourism is significantly
disrupted and in most cases the industry is destroyed, then
requiring development and adjustment. Tourism is an important
part of countries economy and in less economically developed
countries such as those affected by the tsunami, on Boxing Day
2004, the local economy greatly relies upon the industrys
services for the livelihood of its population. The massive affect a
natural disaster can have on tourism is related to the negative
multiplier effect, which involves the impact of the event
spreading through the economy. It can be seen in the following
diagram:

Natural Disaster

Decline in number of tourists

visiting in the area

Decrease in money being spent in the area

due to lack of visitors, decrease in general
economy of the area

Businesses suffer due to lack of money

generated through tourism, local businesses
close, larger businesses decline possibly
leading to closure of parts of the business and
job losses.

Unemployment in the area affected by the

natural disaster increases, the disposable income
of locals decreases meaning less money is spent
in the area which causes more businesses to
decline.

Government spending increases due to lack of

money generated through tax (as less people are
working in the formal sector), combined with the
aid needed to recover from the event, government
spending is very high and the areas economy is at
its lowest.

There are several case studies which show the varying effect a
natural disaster has on tourism, the following case studies provide
information regarding the areas location, tourist industry, natural
disaster and the industry after the event.

In some cases natural disasters can actually increase tourism. In a

strange way, places affected by natural disaster can become tourist
hot zones as a place to visit. They often become places of
educational and historical interest and many people visit as full
holidays, or as a part of another holiday in a proximate area.
An example of this would be the small Cornish village of Boscastle.
The village witnessed the worst ever flash flood in its history on
August 16th 2004. A recorded 200.4mm of rain fell in just twenty four
hours causing a 3m torrent to flow through the village. Over 100
residents were airlifted to safety but there were no fatalities. 116
cars were swept through the village in to the harbour (36 of which
have still not been found!) it caused millions of pounds worth of
damage to property, businesses and the surrounding vicinity.

Boscastle during the flooding.

(Data and image taken from www.bbc.co.uk/news)
Subsequently, 800,000 has now been spent on flood defences in
Boscastle to protect from any similar events. This has proved money
well spent as three years later in 2007, a 91cm flood affected only
several houses and businesses.(www.bbc.co.uk/news)
After the flooding, Boscastle was obviously subjected to a lot of
media attention. The event was reported throughout the flooding
and ever since. This attraction has not only increased public
knowledge of the village; increasing tourist interest, but has also
attracted more bizarre goings on. For example there have been
things like a Boscastle changing rooms special and a sea side
parish programme involving Boscastles own priest. And obviously,
people of Boscastle encouraged such publicity because it was
necessary to encourage visitors back.(www.bbc.co.uk/news)
One year after the 2004 floods tourism began to resurface in the
area. So many people were visiting the small village that B and B
owners were struggling to find adequate accommodation for the
visitors who were staying over night. However many reports
suggested that although Boscastle was again beginning to thrive,

many visitors were not staying over night. The Wellington Hotel
accounted the day time businesses are doing well but the B&B side
is struggling more.(Manager at the Wellinton Hotel, sourced from
BBC news) Thus many of these visitors cannot be classed as tourists
to Boscastle as they are not staying for twenty four hours or more.
Many people would visit Boscastle from other surrounding areas. For
example, day visits to the village from other Cornish villages or
towns such as Camelford, Padstow, Rock and Wadebridge.

However the clear increase of knowledge of this small Cornish

settlement would increase income to the settlement. Although day
visits may not count as tourism outright, they are clearly helping the
village and contributing in the way in which tourism does. Boscastle
is a good example of how a place affected by natural disaster can
receive a positive impact afterwards as a place of tourist attraction.
A more significant example of a tourist site developing from an area
of natural disaster would be Mount Vesuvius. Vesuvius is located
nine kilometres east of Naples in Italy.

(www.volcano.und)

The 1,281m high mountain famously erupted in AD 79. This

eruption destroyed the proximate Roman cities of Pompeii and
Herculaneum (named after the God Hercules as the Romans
believed Mount Vesuvius to be sacred to him.) The mountain was
formed by the collision of the Eurasian and the African tectonic
plates and thus was susceptible to volcanic eruption.

A predicted image of Mount Vesuvius erupting (Google images)

During the AD79 eruption, 1cubic mile of ash and rock fell to the
south of the mountain in just nineteen hours. Three metres of this
fell directly on to the city of Pompeii. It is not known exactly how
many people lived in Pompeii although it is thought to be between
10,000 and 25,000. 1,150 human remains have been found in and
around Pompeii although this is thought to be a small percentage of
those actually killed. (www.wikipedia.com)
The eruption has greatly influenced tourism in the area today. The
area around Vesuvius was declared a national park on 5th June 1995.
Tourists can reach Vesuvius summit by road and then on foot. These
visits are historical and educational forms of tourism. Visitors would
mostly come as a complete holiday destination as opposed to day
visits witnessed in Boscastle. People are also so attracted to the
area due to its vast archaeological sites. As the city of Pompeii was
never rebuilt, people can see the city as it would have been over
2500 years age. Tourists can participate in guided tours to see a
number of different locations of interest: ancient ruins such as
Oplantis and the Ruins of Pompeii, historical sites such as The Forum
and religious sites such as The Madonna of the Rosary. In conclusion,
Pompeii is very diverse in terms of the attractions available and is
clearly an area of tourist interest after a natural disaster.
The following examples illustrate the changes in the industry which
can take place in the event of a natural disaster and the impact of
disasters on less economically developed countries.

The eruption of the Soufriere hills in Montserrat is an example of

how natural disasters can affect tourism, and illustrates the changes
in the industry which take place due to natural disasters.
Montserrat is a Caribbean island in the Caribbean Sea, south east of
Puerto Rico. It is a volcanic island, mostly mountainous, subjected to
severe hurricanes (June-November) and volcanic eruptions.
The Soufriere Hills volcano erupted in 1997, burying streets and
buildings around the island and wiping out the capital city of
Plymouth. Also destroyed by the eruption were the islands airport
and the ferry terminal. This had an obvious impact on the tourism of
Montserrat, which was once thriving, yet not as popular as Antigua
or Barbados. Prior to the eruption Montserrats tourism relied mainly
on villa rental and tourists returning year after year.

Montserrat in the eruption

(image taken from www.geosc.psu.edu)
The effect of the eruption on the islands tourism industry varied.
There was an initial slump in the industry but ten years after the
volcanic eruption the island has a new 10million airport and is
determined to recover from the disaster in the 1990s. Instead of
ignoring the events that took place Montserrats tourist board
decided to embrace its history and as tourism officials said God
gave us a volcano, so were selling volcano tourism (quote taken
from Times article: Jewel Rises from Ashes). The island offers
tourists the chance to walk round the streets of Plymouth with a
police officer to explore the ruins of the once busy capital of the
island. Also available is a new volcano observatory to provide
visitors with a different view of the Caribbean island and emphasise
the islands natural assets.
Montserrat illustrates the way in which the tourism industry can
change and adapt in the event of a natural disaster, and in this case
although the tourist industry isnt as thriving as before it is slowly
increasing and working with the natural disasters it is subjected to.

Another example of a natural disaster which had a massive impact on an

areas tourism is the Boxing Day Tsunami, 2004. Thailand was one of the
countries subjected to the tsunami. Thailand is in South-eastern Asia,
bordering the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, southeast of Burma; it
can be seen in the map below:

(Location
map of Thailand taken from www.bbc.co.uk/news)
The tsunami was one of the worlds most devastating disasters; an
underwater earthquake, measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale, struck
10km under the seas surface on the North coast of Sumatra in
Indonesia. The earthquake displaced tectonic plates on the sea
floor, resulting in the tsunami. The tsunami had two main affects on
tourism:
1. creating the image the area was unsafe
2. Physical damage to the area (leaving most tourist resorts in
ruins.)
Tourism was of great importance to Thailand, it contributed to the
economy of the country and local economy (tourism accounted for
almost 6% of GDP in 2002 and the hotel and restaurant sector
accounts for 3.8% of Thailands GDP). This is even more so in Phuket
where tourism accounted for 42% of the areas gross provisional
product. (All data taken from www.ecoescapes.co.uk)
This natural disaster had a significant impact on Thailands tourist
industry. At the time of the tsunami the United Nations Development
Fund estimated the tourism related job losses in Thailand to be
120,000 and considering the negative multiplier effect the United
Nations Development Fund expected this figure would in theory
increase to 500,000. Thailands tourism steeply declined following
the Tsunami, as tourism relies on infrastructure, food,

transportation, electricity, water and other services all of which

were wiped out due to the disaster. But since the disaster Thailands
tourism is slowly rising, and there is now a different type of tourist
visiting the area but unfortunately for Thailand, according to several
news articles taken from The Times and the BBC news , the new
average tourist goes on cheap package deals to take advantage of
the cheap resorts and is unwilling to spend money on diving,
excursions and other services the destination has to offer.
In some ways this disaster parallels that of Montserrat, as both are
less economically developed countries which suffered a massive
decline in tourism but developed the industry to incorporate factors
of the disaster they experienced. In the case of Thailand people saw
the event on the news and have since chosen to travel to Thailand
to see the event for themselves, for example taking taxis to travel
to the areas worst hit by the disaster. This type of tourism could be
described as disaster tourism, as the industry relies on the curiosity
of people regarding the disaster.
Although tourism is on the increase in Thailand it hasnt returned to
its previous state, small businesses which depend on the support of
tourism are desperate for visitors and the tourist agencies are
anxious to send the message out that Thailands beaches, shops,
bars and restaurant are open for business as usual. It is essential
tourism returns to the area, as Giovanni Romchi said:
The people who survived the disaster here need money. If tourists
do not come back soon, they will face another disaster this time a
financial one.
(quotation taken from BBC news article, Thailand's tsunami-hit
tourism)
In conclusion the unpredictability of natural disasters and the
tourism industry can have disastrous effects when occurring
simultaneously. In general natural disasters have the effect of
initially decreasing tourism but destinations affected can then
change and allow the industry to adapt to involve the disaster. As
countries rely so much on tourism there is a need to regenerate
their trade and deal with natural disasters in order to survive. This is
especially true in the case of LEDCs but unfortunately it is often
these countries which find it most difficult due to the massive
reliance on the industry for their economy and livelihood.

Bibliography:
www.encyclopedian.com

www.timesonline.co.uk
www.news.bbc.co.uk
www.em-dat.net
Google images
www.citizenshipfoundation.org.uk
www.wikipedia.com