The Effectiveness of Post-Disaster Recovery Marketing Messages—The Case of the 2009 Australian Bushfires

Gabrielle Walters · Judith Mair

138 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Travel & Tourism Marketing

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Diverse Aspects of Tourism Research Disaster Management and Resilience Public Relations and Crisis Communication

Abstract

An understanding of how best to communicate with the tourism market in the wake of a disastrous event is essential for destination marketing organizations seeking to manage the misperceptions and media-imposed attitudes held by potential visitors. To date, the literature remains silent in terms of the types of messages destination marketing organizations are best to employ when a disaster has hit and consequently marketers often take an “ad hoc” approach to their post-disaster communications that may or may not be effective in terms of encouraging visitation. In response to this knowledge gap, the research presented in this article adopted an experimental methodology to examine the effectiveness of nine disaster recovery message themes commonly used by destination marketing organizations. The messages were presented to respondents via a print advertisement promoting the Victorian region of Gippsland—a tourism region severely affected by the 2009 Black Saturday Bushfires. The results revealed that a marketing message endorsed by a well-known and well-associated celebrity figure is likely to be most effective in encouraging tourists to return to or visit a disaster-affected destination 12 to 24 months following the event. The findings also revealed a significant relationship between past visitation and the time frame in which visitors will visit a disaster-affected region. Those who had visited the region four times or more were much more likely to return within 6 months of the event than less frequent visitors. A final important message revealed in this study was the fact that the tourism market is not averse to disaster recovery promotional activities, a concern often considered by destination marketers when planning their post-disaster recovery campaigns.

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References

2025Advances in Consumer Research 2001Towards a framework for tourism disaster management 2004The Effect of Risk Perceptions on Intentions to Travel in the Aftermath of September 11, 2001 2008Tourism Disaster Planning and Management: From Response and Recovery to Reduction and Readiness 2005Hazard or disaster: Tourism management for the inevitable in Northeast Victoria 2008Crisis Management in Tourism 2001Relationship development and marketing communication: an integrative model 2008Tourism Crises and Marketing Recovery Strategies

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