Simulation of tourists' wayfinding during evacuation based on experiments in Kyoto

24th EURO Working Group on Transportation Meeting, EWGT 2021, 8-10 September 2021, Aveiro, PortugalTourists are often more vulnerable than residents in sudden disaster situations due to lack of knowledge regarding evacuation routes and safe areas. To establish protocols and the schemes for tourist evacuation to safe areas, it is necessary to gather their likely behavior during an evacuation. Since there are few actual data available we conducted a VR (Virtual Reality) experiment assuming a sudden disaster situation and estimated tourists’ route choice based on the experiment. In the experiment pictures of intersection in the touristic Higashiyama area of Kyoto, Japan, where shown to participants and they could choose the direction they want to proceed until reaching an open space or designated shelter. As a result, we could quantify the impact of road width and, to some degree, network structure. The results reveal the tendency to select wide roads and to proceed straight. If the participants were put under time pressure these tendencies are intensified. Utilizing these results we constructed an evacuation simulation. We estimated the distribution and amount of tourists using data obtained from a mobile phone service provider. We conducted the simulation using VisWalk with various guidance situations and compared those results. The results illustrate potential capacity bottlenecks of designated shelter locations and the importance to provide route guidance and certain points in the network

Past evacuation behavior and intended shelter selection of Japanese considering presence of foreign tourists

Due to the rapid growth, tourism in Japan has been receiving significant attention from the Japanese government and has been placed as a key policy. Japan is a country prone to several natural disasters like earthquake, typhoon, flood etc. In light of this vulnerability, the central government and local municipalities have worked towards evacuation planning to secure safety of foreign tourists. This study aims to develop suggestions for better regional tourism evacuation shelter planning targeting both Japanese and foreign tourists. The main research objectives are to understand 1) evacuation experience of Japanese during past disasters; 2) intended evacuation behaviour and preference of Japanese under Tokyo Metropolitan Earthquake scenario; and 3) impact of presence of foreign tourists on evacuation shelter choice of Japanese in case of an emergency. We conduct a local resident survey to identify the need of dedicated evacuation shelter planning as disaster preparedness for foreign tourists in Japan. End Proctoring

Emergency Decision Making and Disaster Recovery

There is growing evidence that the number and severity of natural disasters and their cascading events such as power blackouts are increasing. These extreme events threaten human lives, displace hundreds of thousands of people and cause huge financial losses. Therefore, it is important to understand better how socio-economic systems can best respond to these disasters and how they can recover quickly, build back better and become more resilient. This thesis comprises five separate studies of four different types of disasters. The overall objective is to improve the understanding of how society copes with and makes decisions in crisis and emergency situations, and how disaster affected areas recover, particularly in terms of speed and quality. This is a huge subject and rather than focusing on just one event or a single type of disaster, the objective is to look at different types of disaster events by studying people’s risk perception and their (real or expected) disaster behaviour in the context of different phases of the disaster cycle from immediate response to longer-term recovery and resilience building. The five studies featured in this thesis are: 1. Behaviour during a long-lasting blackout in France and Germany, investigated through role-playing scenario exercises to study how society would cope. The aim is provide information to emergency managers and policy makers about community needs and people’s likely behaviour in future blackouts, 2. Analyses of people’s preparedness, perception and behaviour during floods in the UK and Germany and their attitude to public authorities, investigated through face-to-face interview surveys with people living and working in the flood prone areas, 3. Analyses of flood evacuation compliance, from both decision-theoretic and game-theoretic perspectives, using the Warning Compliance Model, which incorporates a Bayesian information system that formalizes the statistical effects of a warning forecast based on the harmonious structure of a Hidden Markov Model, 4. Examining recovery after two major comparable floods in UK and Germany in terms of the impacts, levels of preparedness and government response, investigated with face-to-face interview surveys with residents and businesses and online surveys with experts, 5. Tourist destination recovery in the Philippines after earthquake and typhoon, investigated through interviews with tourist managers and stakeholders. The key areas for future research revolve around identifying in more detail and with greater precision those factors that predispose a society to respond effectively to a disaster, to recover as quickly as possible and to build resilience in order to better confront future disasters

The Role of Stakeholders as Disaster Communicators at Disaster-Prone Tourist Attraction Objects

Indonesia is located in a disaster-prone region that can result in human casualties, property losses, environmental damage, and even impacts on the tourism sector. The provinces of Yogyakarta and Bali are vulnerable areas with tourist attractions (TAIs). Disaster communication becomes a crucial aspect that must be addressed to reduce disaster risks and their impacts. This research aims to analyze the role of stakeholders in implementing disaster communication at TAIs to achieve sustainable tourism. The results of this research indicate that three categories of stakeholders play crucial roles in disaster communication at TAIs. Primary stakeholders include local communities, local governments, and BPBD. Secondary stakeholders include the Ministry of Tourism, Non-Governmental Organizations, BASARNAS, TNI, and POLRI. Moreover, a key stakeholder identified in this study is the Indonesian Hotel and Restaurant Association (PHRI), which plays a significant role as a direct communicator responsible for managing and assisting tourists during disasters in ODTW areas

INITIATION OF THE DESA TANGGUH BENCANA THROUGH STIMULUS-RESPONSE METHOD

The model of “desa tangguh bencana” (disaster resilient village) has to be initiated throughstimulus program. Social values existed in local community are basic capital in establishingdisaster resilient village. Mapping the site properties and characteristics is an essential stepto capture the community’s level of vulnerability and capacity. Establishment of “desatangguh bencana” is one of methods to involve local community in community based disasterrisk reduction (CBDRR). The initiation of disaster resilient in Pagubugan Kulon was donethrough stimulus-response method to introduce safe and resilient culture. Building up thegood understanding of disasters becomes one important way to rise up the communitypreparedness. The community response in Pagubugan Kulon to the disaster stimuli is theestablishment of “desa tangguh bencana pratama”

Evaluating the business case for investment in the resilience of the tourism sector of small island developing states

Over the last decade, a number of disasters severely affected tourist destinations. At the same time, the management of disasters has shifted from a reactive, top-down approach to a more inclusive approach that seeks to proactively include the private sector in reducing the risk of disasters. Considering that a significant proportion of tourism occurs in the potentially hazardous coastal zones of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), private tourism sector stakeholders can – and maybe have to – play an active role in disaster risk reduction (DRR). Establishing the business merits associated with investment in disaster resilient measures would be necessary to support increased private sector DRR investment. This study therefore evaluated the business case for investment in the resilience of the tourism sector in SIDS. As such, it offers: 1) a greater understanding of the root causes of destination vulnerability and risk using a cross-regional, comparative case study approach; and 2) a qualitative evaluation of the business case for investment in the resilience of SIDS tourism. Semi-structured interviews with 80 private and public sector stakeholders in the Caribbean, Pacific and AIMS regions revealed that some private sector stakeholders already self-regulate based on individual evaluations of a variety of tangible and less tangible benefits. More research is needed to develop the economic and financial data that may possibly encourage greater private sector investment in DRR, as well as, create a supportive and enabling national economic context for resilient tourism investment.This Background Paper was commissioned and financially supported (award no. OBMO#51870) by the Global Assessment Report team led by Andrew Maskrey based at the Secretariat of the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, Geneva, Switzerland

Successful Strategies to Sustain Profits from Tourism Following a Hurricane

Hurricanes have caused billions of dollars in damage to the hotel industry in Florida, significantly affecting tourism flow. The unpredictable impact of hurricanes makes sustaining profits challenging. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore strategies that hotel leaders use to sustain tourism profits following a hurricane. The theory of image restoration provided the conceptual framework for the study. Data were collected from company documents and semistructured interviews with 5 hotel leaders in Central Florida. Transcribed data were coded then validated using member checking during the data analysis, which revealed 5 themes: storm impact, accommodations, operations, communications, and planning. Results indicated the relevance of the theory of image restoration to help hotel leaders get operations back to normal following a hurricane by using effective communication and planning. Results also indicated that when hotel leaders have an effective response strategy, the opportunity to sustain profits extends beyond tourism. Results may be used by hotel leaders to sustain profits and support their communities during hurricane recovery by providing accommodations, safety, and security to stakeholders other than tourists, such as first responders and state and local residents

NEW MODEL FOR LOCAL POST DISASTER TOURISM GOVERNANCE: Evidence from Indonesia’s Merapi Volcano

This article examines the dynamics of local post-disaster tourism governance in areas on the foothills of Merapi Volcano in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, which is one of the world’s most intensively active volcanoes. In this research, the author invites the readers to discuss the success achieved in local collaboration through transforming disaster life into a profitable tourism site. They face difficult situations amid government limitations in handling this post-disaster development. Using qualitative descriptive analysis, this study offers a new local-based collaboration model, especially for the post-disaster tourism governance in developing countries. Result of the study showed that local collaboration cannot be achieved in an instant, rather involves a process that is influenced by local wisdom. This article makes positive contribution to public policy literature and is essential for policymakers at the lower level and concerned about local-based development and empowermen