Model of crisis communications for overcoming force majeure situations in the tourism sphere

In the XXI century tourism has become the most dynamic sector of international business, however during last time it faces serious difficulties: growth of number of natural and technogenic disasters, political and social force majeurs entails significant losses for the tourism sector enterprises. In such circumstances they face very difficult tasks: to prevent panic among tourists, to calm them, to keep their trust, provide real assistance and to fulfill their legal obligations. However, the vast majority of Russian tourism enterprises is not engaged in the solution of these tasks. Perhaps because it requires a special, different from daily, work with the target audiences, namely - the development and implementation of crisis communication program. Based on the hypothesis that the development of an optimal model of crisis communication in the tourism sector should be carried out taking into account, firstly, the specifics of tourism marketing, PR and advertising, and secondly, psychological and cultural features of perception and reaction of representatives of the different cultures in crisis situations, the author has developed such model, which is described in this article. The model consists of three major blocks of crisis communications, allocated on the basis of the time factor: before force majeure, at the time of beginning and during the force majeure; immediately alter the force majeure. Each block is divided into parts according to the subject or the time of necessary actions. Work on the first phase, which is called "Before force majeure", should be conducted in six directions: the formation of a crisis team and resources, creation of a crisis plan, establishing and maintaining of contacts, work in social media, the overall image and reputation activity and monitoring. Upon the occurrence of force majeure work is divided on the basis of temporary factors: the necessary actions in the first 1.5 hours, 4-6 hours, 24 hours, and in the following days. After the end of force majeure crisis work in the company does not finish and conducts in four directions: public relations, advertising, promotion and BTL marketing. The article also presents the opportunities and prospects for the application of the developed model in the Russian tourist practice.

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