If an emergency occurs in your region, Tourism Victoria will work with your region’s tourism organisations to establish a Tourism Response and Recovery Group (TRRG). This group will be responsible for developing and coordinating a communications plan for the tourism industry, including working with the media.

As far as practicable, the appointed spokesperson for the TRRG should be the only person who communicates with the media on behalf of the tourism industry. This will ensure that a consistent message and style is related to the media, as opposed to conflicting information from multiple sources.

The media can also be a key partner in the recovery process.

Individual businesses should ensure that they are aware of the TRRG’s activities, and should direct any media inquiries to the TRRG spokesperson.

Sometimes it may be necessary for a tourism operator who is directly impacted upon by an emergency to talk to the media. However, this should only be done in coordination with the TRRG. If you are asked by the TRRG to talk to the media, it is useful to keep the following in mind:

• Be factual – don’t speculate
  
• Be calm, reassuring and positive (avoid terms such as emergency and crisis)
• Acknowledge the responsibility to visitors and community
• Acknowledge the importance of visitor welfare (if appropriate)
• If appropriate, empathise with the victims of the incident

Make sure you find out the contact details of your TRRG representative.

For further advice on dealing with the media, see the Crisis Communications Handbook for Regional and Local Tourism by Tourism Victoria.

“After the bushfires in Grampians National Park, the media was voracious in its appetite for stories. If the media approaches you as a spokesperson for the industry, it’s important to convey the reality of your experience rather than your opinion (keep to the facts). If you make negative comments about what’s happened, it can easily end up being sensationalised in the media, which can put people off coming to the region a long time after the fires are out.”
Don Calvert, Mountain Grand Guesthouse, Halls Gap

Keeping informed and updated

To receive the latest information about the crisis response and recovery process for the tourism industry, make sure you are listed with the nearest Visitor Information Centre and/or the database of your regional and local tourism associations. If you are a member of these organisations, you will automatically be on their contact databases.