Crisis events in tourism: subjects of crisis in tourism

Abstract

The global financial and economic downturn that affected tourism from 2007 through to 2010 and beyond has cast substantial attention on the role that crisis events play in tourism. These concerns have only been exacerbated by natural disasters, such as the 2010 Icelandic volcanic plume, pandemics, and the potential of future global change. The potential effects of crisis events on international tourism are likely to increase in both size and frequency as tourism becomes increasingly hypermobile and the global economy even more interconnected. A review of the literature on tourism and crisis suggests that economic and financial crises receive the most research attention, with these crises events often being linked to other events such as terrorism and increased energy costs. This article concludes that the discourse on crisis in tourism raises fundamental concerns about the way that the notion of crisis is conceptualised and what constitutes normality.