Curtin organises tourism and hospitality crisis symposium you just have to be at

Curtin University Business School has taken a vital initiative that others have not by organising what could be considered to be the single most needed symposium in the industry today.

The 1^st Services Management Symposium, hosted by the School of Management at Curtin Business School is a two day conference with one day on Monday 13 November, 2006 totally committed to the issue of security and crisis management in tourism and hospitality and the objective providing professional development and networking opportunities and a forum to discuss key issues.

Internationally recognised experts in their fields have been invited to share their views as well as industry and government representatives who will present specific case studies from a practitioner’s perspective.

The first day’s programme is titled, “Beating the Odds: Security and Crisis Management in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry and will deal with the threat of disaster from political upheaval, natural catastrophes, disease, crime, terrorism or war, one of the major challenges facing tourism today, with at any point in time a potential crisis looming somewhere in the world.

Curtin Business School says that tourism is particularly susceptible to such negative events putting the industry under an almost permanent threat of a crisis threatening business.  Before 9/11 and the Asian Tsunami of 2004, crisis management in tourism was essentially a reactive response, as opposed to a state of proactive anticipation.

The aim of the Symposium is to explore a more systematic and conceptual approach to prepare tourism businesses to deal with crises. With presentations from academia and industry Curtin Business School will focus on the preparation stage of tourism crisis management to prepare tourism businesses for crisis situations and also to identify future research needs.

The keynote speaker is TravelMole’s Tourism Crisis Management correspondent and international tourism crisis and recovery specialist, David Beirman, an acknowledged world leader having spoken at a number of conferences around the world including in Hawaii only recently and advising organisations globally.  He is also the author of Restoring Tourism Destinations in Crisis – A Strategic Marketing Approach.

There will also be presentations from academia including Professor J Carlsen (Curtin), Professor A Nankervis (RMIT), Dr B Ritchie (University of Canberra), Dr A Muraviev (Curtin), Y Gurtner (James Cook University) as well as case study presentations from representatives from the tourism and hospitality industry.

Registration which includes a programme, book of abstracts, morning and afternoon tea, light lunch and closing drinks for Day One is only $50.00 and for Students only $15.00.

The organisers have been able to keep fees low because none of the speakers are charging a fee. 

David Beirman told The Mole today, “It is interesting that while Qantas and AFTA have procrastinated about running crisis management seminars for the travel industry which they flagged in November of last year, Curtin University in WA has taken the initiative”, adding, “ Although the Thai coup appears to have had little real impact on day to day life in Thailand and its actual threat to tourism is minimal, coups bloodless or otherwise instil uncertainty especially amongst travellers and all travel professionals need to have a contingency plan to deal with such events or potentailly risk losing their business”.

Further details and a booking form can be obtained by clicking on this link.

http://www.travelmole.com/photolib/Tourism Crisis Management Symposium Perth.pdf  or from: http://www.business.curtin.edu.au/sms. 

General enquiries regarding the Tourism Crisis Management day can be made to  Dr Christof Pforr, Research Director at the School of Management, Curtin University of Technology on:- T: 08 9266 7743, or Email: [email protected]

Do not miss this critical seminar for our business.

The second day titled Contemporary challenges in Public Sector Management: Recruitment, Partnerships and Sustainability may also be of interest to TravelMole subscribers, exploring that the past two decades have seen the transformation of the public sector worldwide and whilst these issues have been well researched, the sector is still undergoing change which presents practitioners and theoreticians with a range of challenges.

There are a number of pressing issues that have emerged out of this rapidly changing environment, with this symposium focusing on four that are being acutely felt today: recruiting and retaining suitable skilled and qualified staff, the role of the private sector in government enterprises and capital works programs, promoting sustainable development, and accountability and governance considerations that arise from these.

The aim of this symposium is to examine these with a view to informing both theory and practice in public sector management. Presentations will be made by academics and practitioners interested in developing applied research projects.

Report by The Mole