A framework to identify destination vulnerability to hazards. (June 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Alvarez, Sergio; Bahja, Frida; Fyall, Alan
• Is Part Of: Tourism management. Volume 90(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-06
• Subjects: Destination -- Vulnerability -- Tourism -- Hazards -- Shocks and stressors; Tourism -- Periodicals; 338.4791
• DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2021.104469
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0261-5177

Abstract

Abstract: We posit that destination vulnerability is the result of chronic conditions whose root causes lie dormant in plain sight, yet rear their ugly head during every crisis. This interdisciplinary review is motivated by the central research question: why do some destinations suffer more acute impacts in the same or similar crises than other destinations? While the paper falls short of providing a satisfactory answer, it reviews concepts such as resilience and vulnerability, the difference between shocks and stressors, and the types of hazards, and proposes a conceptual framework that highlights the physical, social-cultural, economic, ecological/environmental, and institutional dimensions of vulnerability. We also review the main findings in the literature on the experience of destinations during and after hazards, and illustrate the dimensions of destination vulnerability through evidence uncovered by prior studies. The paper affords Destination Management Organizations the language and conceptual understanding to identify vulnerability in their own destinations. Graphical abstract: Image 1