Crisis management in the function of effective destination management

Abstract

Contemporary destination management implies a broader mandate that has shifted the focus from traditional marketing and promotional activities to strategic planning, coordination, and management activities, integrating various stakeholders with a common goal. However, environmental influences, especially negative ones, to which tourism is highly susceptible, as shown by practice in recent years, also affect the overall destination management process. The integration of crisis management into the destination management process assumes that specific procedures exist, adequate task forces are organised, and all necessary resources are recognized, planned and activated at the onset of the crisis. Recent experiences have shown that destinations like Serbia, which failed to establish a destination management system, face much more significant challenges regarding crisis management in tourism. Given that we are increasingly living in the so-called VUCA environment, tourism crisis management is exposed to unique challenges and requires special skills and leadership that will be activated in risky moments. In addition, it is essential to establish institutions with clearly defined tasks and capacities because only the synergy of skills and knowledge, on the one hand, and institutions (structures) will enable successful crisis management in tourism.