Towhey Consulting Group Inc.

Tour industry leaders recognize importance of crisis management

Nov. 6, 2006

Salt Lake City – Senior tourism industry leaders from around the world gathered in Salt Lake City this week to conduct business, improve their professional knowledge and learn to build stronger, better businesses. On Monday, Nov. 6, conference delegates learned about crisis management and crisis communication from international crisis management consultant Mark Towhey. In a survey managed by the National Tour Association, participants reported the sessions were excellent.

Towhey is president of TOWHEY Consulting Group Inc., an international management consulting firm specializing in integrated issues, risk and crisis leadership. He delivered two professional development sessions to delegates at the Salt Palace Convention Center in downtown Salt Lake City . When Crisis Strikes: How to effectively prepare for and manage through a crisis situation provided participants with an overview of crisis management and the key role that leaders play during crisis. In the second session entitled Communicating in Crisis: How to Develop Strategic Influence with Critical Stakeholders when Under Fire, he explained the role of the news media and what business leaders need to understand in order to effectively manage corporate communication during a major crisis.

Audience members included representatives from Tour Suppliers, Tour Operators and Destination Marketing Organizations. Overall, they ranked both sessions as excellent, with average satisfaction scores of 9.6 out of 10 for the crisis management session and drawing written comments such as “excellent presenter – extremely on point!” for the communication session.

Delegates believed that the subject matter of the crisis management sessions was extremely important for leaders in their industry. Many were surprised that “such an important session” did not draw even larger crowds. “Disasters can and do strike at companies like ours,” said one participant. “It is vitally important that we are ready to manage them effectively when they do. Anything less, would mean the end of our business.”

TOWHEY Consulting Group Inc. is an international management consulting firm specializing in integrated issues, risk + crisis leadership. With teams based in Toronto and Miami, it regularly works with the some of the world’s largest and smallest high performance organizations, helping them become stronger and more resilient to major crisis.