On 17 February 2022, Binna Burra Lodge was invited by the Australian Government to contribute to an international symposium on: “Raising Awareness of Tourism Crisis Management – Sharing case studies and communication plan”.
Binna Burra Lodge Chairperson, Steve Noakes joined one other Australian contributor, Margaret Bowen, Head of Tourism Recovery at Australian Trade and Investment Commission, to contribute to the panel discussion on Binna Burra’s ‘Response & recovery to the ‘Black Summer’ Australian Bushfires: 2019 – 2020.’
Steve and Margaret were the Australian contribution to this Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) online symposium supported by Japan Tourism Agency, together with the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
‘Crisis management in the tourism field is recognized as a universal issue’ said Steve. ‘Japan is located in a natural environment prone to many disasters. It has a long history of natural disasters such as earthquakes, typhoons, and heavy rains. They were interested to learn from our Black Summer bushfire experience and we were interested to learn about how their tourism industry responds and recovers to the numerous disasters they have also faced.’
Since the 2019 bushfire devastation Binna Burra Lodge has been willing to share its experience by disseminating know-how and knowledge on disaster preparedness, measures for ensuring the safety of tourists in the event of a crisis, and measures for recovery from a crisis to destinations around the world.
