Revisiting the 2001 Foot and Mouth Tourism Crisis from a Complexity Theory Perspective

Abstract

The crisis that occurred in the British tourism industry due to the outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease in 2001 was adopted as a case study for an investigation with two specific objectives. The first of these was to challenge contemporary tourism crisis and disaster management models by identifying several of their weaknesses and examining the extent to which they would have limited the management of the crisis had they been utilised. The second objective was to consider whether complexity theory would have provided a more appropriate framework from which to manage the crisis. A qualitative approach was employed, with data being collected by means of semi-structured interviews with key players from the industry and business owners from affected areas, and also from documental evidence. The investigation served to demonstrate the limitations of contemporary models, the presence of complexity theory elements, and concluded that, in theory, a complexity theory approach to the management of this crisis would have improved the response. The study serves to offer insight into the viability of using complexity theory as a means of crisis preparation and response. It supports the notion that a destination which adopts a 'learning destination' type of structure (thus incorporating the tenets associated with complexity theory) would be better prepared for crisis and disasters and capable of a much improved response.