How Soon Should You Go Somewhere After a Natural Disaster?
The City of Santa Rosa knows you still want to visit California’s wine country, even after the devastating wildfires that hit the region in 2017 and 2019. Sonoma Valley City wants you to come too; much of its economy relies on tourism dollars, which equates to $ 1.47 billion a year for the region. But perhaps skip selfies with burnt houses.
“One thing I would like to say to anyone planning a trip to the area in response to a disaster or after a disaster is just remember your relationship with the area,” said Kevin King, City Manager of Marketing, Community Relations and coordinator. “You have to be more sensitive than on a regular vacation.”
Tourism officials say the question of when to visit a disaster-hit site is challenging. Arrive too early and you will discourage recovery and take over hotels that could be used for temporary accommodation. But stay out and you will rob the area of much-needed tourism income it expects to get back on its feet. For example, Justin Francis, founder of Responsible Travel, wrote that locals in Phuket, Thailand complained that the 2004 tsunami followed an “economic tsunami” due to lack of tourism.
With the age of climate change threatening new fires, storms and floods that make every trip feel like it will be close to some kind of disaster, how can you know when to visit without being just another ignorant tourist standing in your way? We spoke to several travel experts and disaster survivors for advice.
If you can’t get there, don’t go there
To make the obvious, it will be physically impossible for you to visit most of the hardest hit locations, ”said Rachel Dodds, director of the Sustaining Tourism consulting firm and professor of hospitality and tourism at Ryerson University. Airports will be closed, cruises will be canceled and hotels will be closed for reservations. Even if the recovery is over, some are not yet ready to receive visitors.
“A lot of them are just closing, they don’t want to deal with [tourists],” she said.
So it’s a pretty good way to make plans: if you can’t get somewhere easily, it’s a good sign that you shouldn’t take on the responsibility of renting a pontoon boat, renting a private jet, or going on an off-road trek. get there. But if flights are resumed, hotels are re-booked and local activities are resumed, this is a sign that they are ready – and wanting – to get your travel dollars again.
Do your local research
The key to post-disaster travel is knowing exactly which areas of your desired destination are most affected and which are relatively unscathed.
The Department of State issues guidelines for foreign countries that range from “take normal precautions” to “do not travel.” For example, during a print publication, China received a “no travel” warning due to the coronavirus outbreak. The guidelines also take into account things like terrorism and rebellion. But experts say general warnings don’t always tell the whole story. The best way to be sure of this is to consult with your local authorities.
For example, travelers who hear Puerto Rico is still recovering from Hurricane Maria and the quakes that have shaken the island over the past two months may not know that much of the island welcomes visitors, according to Discover Puerto Rico, the island’s direct marketing agency. organization. It is for this purpose that it maintains travel updates on its website with answers to frequently asked questions and a map of the affected areas.
In a statement sent by email, Discover Puerto Rico says it encourages tourism to the island and that while areas of the southern part of the island are still hit hard, most of the main attractions are open.
“Tourism is vital and nourishes local communities,” CEO Brad Dean said in a statement.
All natural disasters are individual: some communities can recover immediately, some will be incapacitated for several months. Most travel destinations will quickly set similar warnings and recommendations; but the Internet makes it easy to browse local news and blogs to check the status of recovery, Dodds said. Remember to follow local travel etiquette while you do this.
Don’t book a room right away
When houses are destroyed by fire or hurricane, people often turn to local hotels and short-term rentals like Airbnb first. Insurance companies will pay for these rooms, so they’ll book quickly if people have nowhere to stay.
“Right after that, all hotels are likely to be full in these areas,” King said.
For the first few days, it is advisable to postpone reservations in the immediate vicinity of the disaster, even if the hotel is open and open, to allow locals to book rooms. Instead, experts are reminded to stay with friends or family in the area if you have any, or to simply postpone your trip until the initial local demand for rooms dies down. You can always call hotels and local authorities to check the status.
This would have avoided the awkward situation that happened to some friends and me in 2005 when we arrived at our hotel for the Austin City Limits festival and were greeted by a caravan of families fleeing from hurricanes with all their belongings tied to the lid. cars and extra cans of gasoline in the trunk. “Katrina or Rita?” people kept asking us about the recurring hurricanes that forced people to scramble from the Gulf Coast in search of hotel vacancies, to which we shyly replied that, well, we were only here to see Oasis and Death Cab for Cutie (we ended up giving up one of the two rooms we booked).
Over time, displaced people often find friends or family to move in with, so hotel spaces are being freed up, which is what happened in Santa Rosa, where most people have found more stable housing since the recent fires, King said.
Book with a responsible travel company
Not everyone needs to be a travel expert, but small, resilient travel companies can help solve this dilemma about when to travel to specific destinations, said Tim Williamson, director of customer service at Responsible Travel, which connects travelers with local guides.
He suggests ordering small and local travel companies for your trip to get an idea and make sure your money really benefits the local economy (this is a good time to refresh yourself with these tips on how to be an ecotourist without destroying the environment ). It takes a little bit of work to find out which ones are correct:
“Ask questions – how entrenched are they in the community and are they hiring local staff?” Williamson wrote by email. “What is their policy for responsible tourism? Can you speak to a contact person on earth and some of the people who previously traveled with them? “
Help if you can, but don’t be stupid
You can, of course, always turn your trip into a way to help your recovery – if you do it without interfering with you, or just use it for a quick photo shoot. Beware of travel companies looking to take you to the crash site for an “experience,” Williamson said.
For those looking to help directly while on vacation, organizations such as Not Just Tourists provide guidance, including listing medical supplies you can bring to clinics in need. Responsible Tourism has an entire guide on how to become a travel volunteer . Tips include: make sure you have skills useful for the project, ask about the levels of support you will receive if things go wrong, and inquire about pre-flight briefings and training.
What you don’t want to do is rush into a situation, thinking that you can help without any kind of training or support. Dodds said this is taking place in Australia, where tourists enter forests to rescue koalas. But they don’t know what they are doing, they don’t know anything about koalas, so sometimes they have problems and have to send a rescue team.
“Every time someone does this, they give up their efforts to get well,” she said. “There really is no excuse for that.”
Lower your expectations
An all-inclusive world on demand has made some travelers expect to get whatever they want, wherever and whenever they want. This is not the most pleasant way to act when visiting a disaster-stricken location, even if they are open for business again, Dodds said.
“This is a clean, neo-colonialist approach to the destination, oblivious to anything else,” she said. “Disasters are terrible, but they do not cause human disaster after a natural disaster occurs.”
The travel industry isn’t always good at warning people that services may be limited, so it’s best to travel with an open mind.
“If you are going to be a tourist in a place like Puerto Rico [after the hurricane], you cannot expect the same level of service as before the disaster,” she said. “If you are truly willing to take responsibility and invest in the economy, do not expect people to wait for you hand in hand.”
As an example, she cites the water shortage that hit Tofino, a beach resort town in Western Canada in 2009. Travelers were still welcomed, but due to a lack of water, they were prohibited from using the hot tubs and were limited to a short daily shower. The travel community was able to share this message with travelers in advance, she said, so guests arrived prepared and their presence continued to have a positive impact on the economy.
Relax with a selfie
If you’re really traveling to one of these areas, a quick way to become the worst tourist monster is to take a selfie with some kind of destruction in the background, as if it were a Disneyland castle. First, it’s a pretty good way to go viral and get the whole world to mention you by calling you an insensitive jerk. Second, it signals to the locals that you are visiting for the wrong reason and doesn’t really care about the place you are visiting.
“Just be empathetic and considerate,” King said. “Do a little self-reflection: why do you want to visit the area and what is your relationship with the local community?”
As an example, he cites a couple who booked a date wedding in town last year when the area was still raging on fire in Kincaid. The wedding took place, and he is not against those couples who are photographed against the backdrop of the disaster.
“As I understand it, they, as local residents, are going through a catastrophe with us,” he said. But the couple, who got married a few weeks later and took a picture against the wreckage, is a different matter entirely.
“It’s insensitive to the population,” he said.