Strategies for Inbound Tourism Recovery from a Catastrophe: The Case of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in Taiwan

Abstract

ABSTRACT The outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) dealt a sharp blow to the Taiwanese tourism industry, with the worst impact being suffered by the international tourism sector. The tourism industry is highly susceptible to negative situations. However, studies on tourism strategy ready for the immediate aftermath of a catastrophe in response to serious consequences are still an area that has remained largely neglected and unexamined. The primary objective of this study is to adopt the Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) method of fuzzy AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) to develop tourism strategies to cope with the consequences of an epidemic in Taiwan. Thus, the results of this study can serve as a reference for tourism destinations to improve their efforts at disaster mitigation, thereby helping them develop crisis management and appropriate strategies in the event of future mishaps. 【keyword】 outbreak, tourism industry, crisis management, strategy