And last November, a group of wildfires in and around Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, claimed 14 lives, burned 16,000 acres and damaged or destroyed more than 2,000 buildings.
Whenever disaster strikes a destination, local leaders—including tourism professionals—face countless concerns related to safety, infrastructure and recovery.
Following a season of hurricanes in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, along with wildfires in California’s Napa Valley and in Oregon, Courier reached out to three NTA members that have dealt with disaster, and these DMOs share their experiences and advice here.
Courier: From a travel and tourism perspective, just how bad was the damage?
Simms: More than 2,000 hotel rooms were occupied by residents as well as rescue and recovery personnel, and three events planned for later in the month had to be rescheduled. Of the town’s 23 hotel properties, though, only one was still off-line after four months. (Simms consulted with Patrick Tuttle, director of the Joplin CVB, for this article.)
Heywood: In New York, you just don’t expect hurricanes. Lower Manhattan took quite a beating and was without power, and there was devastation to several residential areas.
Claude: The greatest impact of the wildfires was predominantly on the borders of town, where fire damaged or destroyed private residential properties, rental cabins and condominiums. The downtown business district was largely untouched by the wildfires.
Courier: How long did it take to get back to (mostly) full operation?
Claude: December is a high visitation period for Gatlinburg, so it was a top priority to get the city cleared and back open for holiday visitors. The city opened to the public just 10 days after the devastating wildfires. Some hotels and businesses needed extra time for cleaning up the smoke damage, but most of the downtown business district was open and operational for visitors by Christmas.
Simms: More than 9,000 residents were displaced, and Joplin hotels housed the majority of them for nearly six months. As the residents transitioned out of the hotels into other permanent and temporary housing, FEMA workers, insurance adjusters and contractors moved in. Joplin hotels benefitted from the latter for nearly three years.
Heywood: We came back pretty quickly. It took a long time to get residential areas back up, but most tourism areas were up and running in time to prepare for the holiday season.
Courier: What did you do to convince travelers you were up and running?
Heywood: We assessed what was open and then communicated it. We worked with the travel media, used social media and continually updated the website. When we came out and said we were open for business—in coordination with the mayor’s office—it was an important step for getting our story out and managing our message.
Simms: Historic Route 66 runs through the northern portion of Joplin, and it was untouched. The CVB communicated with Route 66 partners and travel planners that Joplin was open for business. None of the city’s attractions were impacted, but the CVB needed to communicate that lodging was limited.
Claude: It’s important to understand that our visitors are loyal. Families have traveled to the Smoky Mountains for generations, often more than once a year. We saw an immediate influx of visitors in town, not just to gawk, but to spend money and support their favorite mountain town. The CVB launched an aggressive marketing and PR campaign within our top feeder markets, featuring a new testimonial commercial filmed in Gatlinburg. The campaign also included well-placed digital advertising, social media and media blitzes.
Don’t think you’re immune to these storms. Be proactive. Have a plan, have a crisis task force, and practice so you’ll be ready to respond. —Chris Heywood, NYC and Company
Courier: Were there any silver linings?
Claude: Unity has been the hallmark of our recovery. We had an outpouring of support that created a neighbor-helping-neighbor dynamic when those most affected were reeling from their losses. That unity continues to be evident as tourism officials in Gatlinburg, Sevier County, Sevierville and Pigeon Forge have worked closely together in the past year to overcome the perception that this area was destroyed.
Simms: Joplin has had positive infrastructure improvements, new facilities, new restaurants and a state-of-art hospital to replace the one that was destroyed, plus a first-class high school. The CVB and the city are proud of how the community and the region came together in the aftermath.
Heywood: It could have been much worse. Also, we were able to get more eyeballs on the destination, and we got a lot of attention. There were a lot stories that wouldn’t have been written otherwise, and there were improvements to the World Trade Center that would never have been done were it not for the storm. Our organization is better prepared now for any crisis in the future.
Courier: What advice would you give to other communities?
Heywood: Don’t think you’re immune to these storms. Be proactive. Have a plan, have a crisis task force, and practice so you’ll be ready to respond. It’s important to have backups for your website and email servers; ours are in another part of the country. Communicate effectively and in real time, and make sure everyone knows you’re open. We work with other destinations, and we advise them to have a crisis plan with checklists and contact information for their board of directors, members and media.
Claude: Never doubt the goodness of people. You are not in it alone, and if you need help, ask.
Simms: Preparation can never be underestimated. Joplin continues to look at what other communities have faced—and learn from them. The city shares best practices and has held recovery summits and seminars through the local university. When applying this to tourism, Patrick and the Joplin CVB staff can point out the differences between people facing an event in their hometown and travelers who are dealing with disaster while in unfamiliar surroundings. Following the tornado, the CVB worked to help find hotel rooms for residents who were displaced. Now, the CVB would also consider the impact on guests in the community and look for ways to assist them.
You can connect with these members by email: Lori Simms, Chris Heywood and Marci Claude.
Top photo: Tornado aftermath in Joplin, Missouri, 2011
Photo by CC Flickr/Taymour Matin: bit.ly/2lVdjGa
