Developing strategies to strengthen the resilience of hotels to disasters: A scoping study to guide the development of the Hotel Resilient Initiative

• Tourism is one of the most economically important sets of industries worldwide, yet the industry is also one of the most highly exposed to disasters due to its reliance on interrelated industries and location in many hazard prone regions.

• The Hotel Resilient Initiative aims to develop internationally recognized standards for hotels and resorts that will assist them in reducing business risk and the risk of tourism destinations to natural and technological hazards, while demonstrating the level of preparedness and safety of their premises to potential clients, insurers and financers.

• To better understand the current capacities and needs of the hotel industry in disaster resilience, this study aims to analyze the business context and its needs for specific disaster risk management standards, and make recommendations on how those standards could be most effective in reducing disaster risks. This study conducted 17 semi‑structured interviews with representatives from hotels, government, insurance companies and hotel associations. Interviewees all had tourism links and expertise relating to destinations including Bohol and Cebu in the Philippines; Lombok in Indonesia; Phuket in Thailand; and the Maldives.

• Overall, the research aligns with the literature available on the subject. It confirmed that there is a need for standardized disaster risk management procedures and processes, especially in independent hotels, to promote best practices and emphasize more on disaster risk reduction rather than disaster response.

Resource link, Hotel Resilient Initiative
http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/ScopingStudy_HotelResilientInitiative_0.pdf, http://www.gidrm.net/activities/hotel-resilient/