Dr. Pennington-Gray featured in Newsweek Japan
May 7, 2018
Dr. Lori Pennington-Gray recently wrote an article featured in Newsweek Japan about how to safely travel abroad in the age of terror. Dr. Pennington-Gray highlighted the work that the Tourism Crisis Management Initiative has been conducting to help the tourist to be responsible and engage in safe tourism practices and to help the industry to be prepared for terrorism attacks.
In this article, Dr. Pennington-Gray talked about how safety is the cornerstone of an attractive destination. In this technological age, tourist are research more and more about their potential destination, and according to Dr. Pennington-Gray, the industry has been forced to be more responsive than ever.
Another point that Dr. Pennington-Gray addressed was how destinations react to terrorism. In time of crisis, tourist require direct information from the governing bodies of destinations. Dr. Pennington-Gray explained that during the Boston Marathon bombing, the Police Department Commissioner started using social media within 10 minutes to explain to people what was happening to avoid miscommunication. According to Dr. Pennington-Gray’s research, more communication will lead to greater response to actions when crises occur.
Dr. Pennington-Gray closed out the article by providing several tips for tourists to take responsibility for their own safety. The tips include:
Monitoring the threat level of the destination where you are going to travel (https://www.riskmaps.aon.co.uk)
Follow the destination’s social media accounts prior to travel and check posts during travel
Use FireChat- an app where users can communication on their smartphones within a 200-foot radius without internet or cellular connection
Check-in on Facebook’s Safety Check to notify friends and family that you are safe
