OUr origin
This laboratory aims to assist the industry with comprehensive risk prevention and crisis management initiatives through research, consulting & training, and education services. The Initiative is housed within the Eric Friedheim Tourism Institute and is affiliated with other allied academic disciplines within UF.
Tourism organizations need to be ready to assist employees and tourists visiting their destinations. An assessment of crisis management planning will enable tourism organizations and destinations to be prepared when challenged with catastrophic events.
Our Students
Larissa Neuburger
On the Media
Featured ACADEMIC Articles
14-year-old boy killed in fall from ICON Park’s Orlando Free Fall ride, deputies say (Link)
Avery, B., Pederson, J., Cordiero, M., Jaramillo, N., & Rice, K. (2022). Orlando Sentinel.
Safety expert: ‘I have serious concerns’ about harness in teen’s death on Orlando FreeFall (Link) Avery, B., Papantonis, N., & Poulisse, A. (2022). (WFTV)
Focus on safety after teen dies falling from ride at Orlando's ICON Park (Link) Avery, B. (2022). Fox 35 Orlando.
Brian Avery, ride safety consultant and lecturer at the University of Florida, weighs in on the recent tragedy involving a teenager’s recent fatal accident in an Orlando park.
Cruise line customer’s responses to risk and crisis communication messages: an application of the risk perception attitude framework (Link)
Liu-Lastres, B., Schroeder, A., & Pennington-Gray, L. (2018). Journal of Travel research, 1-17.
The main purpose of this study was to test cruise line customers’ responses to risk and crisis communication messages addressing health-related incidents on cruise ships. This study used norovirus infections as the context and the Risk Perception Attitude framework as the conceptual foundation.
Destination’s response to terrorism on Twitter (Link)
Danielle Barbe, Lori Pennington-Gray, Ashley Schroeder, (2018) "Destinations’ response to terrorism on Twitter", International Journal of Tourism Cities, Vol. 4 Issue: 4, pp.495-512
The purpose of this paper is to understand the online communication strategies used by destination management organizations (DMOs) during a terrorist attack. In particular, this study analyzes Twitter use during seven terrorism incidents in six European cities (Paris, Brussels, Nice, Berlin, London and Barcelona) between 2015 and 2017.
Using situational crisis communication theory to understand Orlando hotels’ Twitter response to three crisis in the summer of 2016 (Link)
Danielle Barbe, Lori Pennington-Gray, (2018) "Using situational crisis communication theory to understand Orlando hotels’ Twitter response to three crises in the summer of 2016", Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, Vol. 1 Issue: 3, pp.258-275
The purpose of this paper is to assess the crisis communication strategies implemented by hotel and lodging organizations via social media. Specifically, this study analyzed Twitter content by hotels in Orlando, Florida during the summer of 2016 when several crises occurred that made global media coverage, including the alligator snatching on Disney property, the mass shooting at Pulse nightclub and growing concerns of Zika virus.
