Disaster Preparedness of Hotel Industry Abroad: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

This paper aims to identify major emergencies that have the potential to place hotels in emergency and disaster situations; investigate how hotels were prepared for emergencies, how they manage and overcome emergencies when occurred; and limitations and factors influencing successful emergency planning and adoption emergency management in Malaysian and Jordanian hotels. Face-to-face interview for managers from three, four and five star hotels from different backgrounds: local; regional; and International in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Amman and Petra were undertaken. Results revealed that hotels are exposed to a wide range of natural and man-made disasters, Occurred globally affected locally. Hotels lack proactive emergency planning and a lot of constraints which impede successful emergency planning for disasters in the hotel industry, with emphasizing on the relevant authority’s role to demonstrate emergency management to hotels convincing them to adopt such practices, so they can be able to cope with emergencies effectively.