Correspondence: Joan C. Henderson, Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Avenue, 639798, Singapore. Tel: +65 6790 6116; Fax: +65 6791 3697; E-mail: ahenderson@ntu.edu.sg

¹is an associate professor at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University where she has worked in the Business School for the past ten years. Prior to this, she lectured in tourism studies in the UK after periods of employment in both public and private sector tourism there. She has an MSc in Tourism from Strathclyde University and her PhD thesis, completed at Edinburgh University, was on the subject of social tourism. Current research interests include crisis management and tourism, tourism in South East Asia and the marketing of heritage as a tourist attraction.

Received 12 July 2007; Revised 12 July 2007; Published online 10 March 2008.

Abstract

 The paper examines the causes, characteristics and consequences of a travel and tourism industry crisis. A case study methodology is employed and the focus is on the civil aviation sector of the UK and events there in the summer of 2006 when an alleged terrorist plot disrupted airline services. Responses to the situation by the principal parties of government, the leading airport operator and airlines are reviewed within the context of a crisis management model and outcomes are assessed. Findings confirm the vulnerability of travel and tourism to terrorism-related crises and suggest the distinctive qualities of such crises and the challenges of managing them. Crisis management planning emerges as essential and past experiences yield valuable lessons which can be incorporated into preparations for the future.