RISK AND SAFETY MANAGEMENT

Risk Management

 A sustainable tourism relates to the development that actively promotes the economic efficiency, the environment protection of a tourism attraction as well as the socio-cultural progress of the place. The fast track of the dynamic opportunistic market in Malaysia have created new destination or the demand for the new tourism product or custom made tourism. Tourism companies or tourism providers are increasingly facing incidents that involve risks for both tourists and the tourism business. This includes such things as political unrest, terrorist attacks, earthquakes, tsunamis and health-related incidents. These can have a tremendous negative impact on tourism destinations. In addition, the damage to a destination’s image may have even longer-lasting effects than the actual damage from the crisis.

It is important to learn to address risk management issues and reduce the impact of crises and disasters. Crises can also create opportunities, they can shake up the market by making tourists look for new destinations. Countries that are first to come up with a good offer can be winners. Risk management does not start with a crisis, but much earlier. To be prepared for a crisis, every tourism company should think about risk management. Here are our top 10 tips on how to successfully deal with risks and risk management in tourism.  In these focus is the Muar region. Here are some issues that we discover along our trip to Muar and a few recommendations to manage the risk so that it will be safer for tourist to enjoy their visit to this mesmerizing city.

ISSUES

1. PEDESTRIAN

Pedestrian who are walking through the city of Muar crossed the streets without paying any attention to the moving cars. There are also very limited pedestrian walkways to cross the streets. It is very rare to see tourist walk on foot through the town. Excellent ways to solve the issue are to increase number of pedestrian path. The local are encouraged slowing down their vehicle when there are pedestrian who are trying to crossed the road. Pedestrian road signs need to be added more through out the Muar town. 

2. PARKING

There are small car parks with dividers on both side of parking area where it too close to the customer vehicle. In this issues can lead to some damage to the parking space as well as the tourist or customer vehicle. The tourism provider should extend the size of the parking space dividers so that it could avoid a few incidents that can cause damage to both service provider and customer who visit to the tourism facilities. 

3. SPEEDY CAR

Speed vehicle on one- way rails could endanger the pedestrian. This issue can cause harm to the tourist and this issue should be avoided and reducing the retaining of this risk. Most of the vehicle drivers drove without considering other road users that share the same facilities. This selfish act to be changed immediately so that the town could be safe for both local and tourist to experience.

4. FLY OVER

This facilities looks obsolete and endangering users and this have cause the pedestrian to not used this facilities and rather cross the busy road. The renovation works are abandoned and has ruined a pedestrian walkway with sharp rust objects. The fly over bridge should be complete or closed for public use.

Although risk avoidance may seem like the ideal solution, it is not always an option. Some risks are unavoidable. If you cannot eliminate a risk, try to reduce it. You can do this by increasing precautions or limiting risky activities as much as possible. Every tourism provider should have an emergency/contingency plan ready. You may think your destination is free of risks. Or you may not want to give the impression that there might be risks at your destination. However, European tourists actually increasingly ask tour operators for a risk management plan. This means tour operators may demand you have a plan in place. 

Risk management plans for tourism should at least include details on:

· Ensuring the safety of visitors and employees

· Secure systems to communicate with all persons within the facility and the destination

· Security of buildings, facilities and equipment from the effects of the disaster

· Contributing trained liaison personnel to the disaster management agencies during response and recovery operations, as required

· Supplying resources to support response and recovery operations

· Procedures for return to normal business activities after the disaster operations.