Building the resilience of tourism destinations to disasters: The 2020 Victorian bushfires and COVID-19 pandemic

The Victorian visitor economy is in crisis due to the impacts of bushfire and the COVID-19 pandemic. The industry is vital to the social, economic and environmental health of all localities and destinations, but has particular impacts on regional areas where naturebased attractions (e.g., beaches, snow, national and state parks), provide the foundation for the operation of the visitor economy. While the 2019/2020 bushfires severely curtailed normal visitation to the regions, the travel restrictions and long-term forced business closures and border closures due to COVID-19 mean that the visitor economy has been at various crisis points over 2020 and is slowly emerging in an uncertain environment in 2021. These crises are unprecedented and associations such as the Victoria Tourism Industry Council (VTIC) and Regional Tourism Boards (RTBs) have been focussed on recovery planning and implementing measures to ensure sustainability. The School for the Visitor Economy (SVE) at Victoria University has a long track record in planning and research in relation to tourism risk, recovery and resilience to disaster. Funded by Victoria University through a planetary health research fund, SVE and VTIC partnered on this project to develop a deeper understanding of the impact of crises on the Victorian Visitor Economy and develop strategies and frameworks to build resilience to future crises and shocks.