Attitudes and perceptions of crisis planning among accommodation managers: Results from an Australian study

Crisis planning is an important strategy for developing more resilient tourism organisations. Given this, it is important to examine how managers perceive crisis planning because managers’ attitudes and perceptions may affect behavioural intentions. The objective of this study, then, is to identify the attitudes and perceptions of crisis planning behaviour held by managers in the accommodation sector in Australia, and to analyse the relationships between the belief-based measures (behavioural, normative and control beliefs), direct measures (attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control), and behavioural intentions. At the first stage, semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine managers to discover the perceived advantages and disadvantages for implementing crisis planning, the most important people who would approve or disapprove of implementing crisis planning, and what facilitating factors or barriers managers thought could make it easier or more difficult to adopt the behaviour. At the second stage, managers (N = 386) in the accommodation sector completed a questionnaire applying the theory of planned behaviour. Intentions to undertake crisis planning were predicted from attitudes and subjective norms (R = .51; p < .01). Attitudes were related to beliefs about short- and long-term benefits as well as disadvantages of crisis planning; subjective norms reflected expectations of owners, stakeholders, colleagues and guests; and control considerations which included time, money, equipment, consultants and procedures. This information can assist in the preparation of effective intervention strategies. The findings of this study provide valuable guidance for researchers and practitioners for identifying the mechanisms to improve the crisis preparedness of organisations.

► Managers’ attitudes and perceptions of crisis planning (CP) have been investigated.
► Managers’ positive attitudes toward crisis planning strengthen their CP intention.
► Managers who have stronger subjective norms have higher CP intention.