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Crisis Management in the Hospitality Industry

1999; Florida International University School of Hospitality & Tourism Management; Volume: 17; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

0739-7011

Tim Sellnow, Mort Sarabakhsh,

Sport and Mega-Event Impacts

The authors identify several guidelines associated with effective crisis communication for the hospitality industry and explore the feasibility of these guidelines based upon the diverse resources available to hospitality organizations of all sizes This article is available in Hospitality Review: http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/hospitalityreview/vol17/iss1/6 Crisis management in the hospitality industry by Timothy Sellnow and Mort Sarabakhsh The authors identify several guidelines assooated with effeciw crisis communication for the hospitality industry and expbre the feasibility of these guidelines based upon the dive= resources availabfe to hospitality organizations of a// sizes. T he prevalence and peril of organizational crises are evident in the fact that ''four of five major U.S. corporations have formal crisis communications plans in place for disasters and emergencies.' Having a communication crisis plan avdable prior to a threatening event can help an organization offset some criticism by making a timely and accurate response to the crisis. Delivering a strategic response immediately following a crisis is essential because a failure to do so can trigger a torrent of negative publicity.'' Although an increasing number of corporations are developing crisis management plans, many companies continue to focus on operations, rather than communica t i~n .~ Clearly, few crises can be resolved without focusing on operations; however, the a c t e d organization's reputation following the urgent period of the crisis is largely determined by how the organization communicates to the public and the press. Crises are prevalent Crises are inevitable in the hospitality industry. In his study, Laurencc Barton, associate professor of management and organization at Pem State UniversityGreat Valley, illustrate that of some 802 business disasters from 1980 to 1991, nearly 8 percent occurred in the hospitality industry. Among the more prominent events are the lethal outbreak of Legionnaires' Disease at Philadelphia's BeUevue Stratford Hotel (19761, the MGM Grand Hotel fire in Las Vegas (1980), the Hyatt Regency Skybridge collapse in Kansas City (19811, the murder of 23 people a t Lubys Restaurant in Sellnow and Sarabakhsh 53 FIU Hospitality Review, Volume17, Number 1 & 2, 1999