322
S. Mannakkara
this knowledge more widely. The Tourism Industry Council commented that they
have an accreditation standard based on the disaster preparedness of businesses. The
businesses still felt that better DRR and CCA information and training programmes
are necessary for better adaptation.
17.9 Business Resilience in Rarotonga
The coastal tourism businesses understood their importance to the economy of the
country and strived to rise above the challenges posed by climate change impacts.
Apart from individual adaptive structural measures taken by businesses, the businesses remained aligned with the social and cultural values of the Cook Islands and
took advantage of the strong village networks and relationships as a way of being
resilient. Businesses and community members have a culture of assisting each other
in times of disasters. Rarotonga displayed unique attributes such as neighbouring
businesses that normally compete with each other coming together to share resources
and manage guests post-disaster. There was an underlying principle that bound the
business community in working for the collective good of the tourism industry and
economy, which is an impressive indicator of resilience. The businesses found that
assisting each other at the grassroots level was largely more effective than awaiting
Government level or external help.
The businesses had not considered the slow-creep impacts of climate change in
terms of business continuity planning but placed a lot of effort into monitoring their
business recovery progress following disaster events based on rebuilding progress,
aesthetics, number of guests, turnover and speed of general business recovery. The
businesses prioritised making a “good impression” to keep attracting guests and
tourists and thus ensured that they contributed to business resilience and growth
through being open to change and having good relationships with the community
and other businesses.
The resilience and adaptation capabilities of businesses in terms of social and
economic well-being were impressive and aligned with BBB as presented in the
earlier sections of this chapter; however, there was a lack of input and facilitation evident from government organisations. For instance, bodies such as the
Tourism Corporation and Tourism Industry Council could add value by assisting these
businesses with further resilience-building. Businesses can improve their adaptive
capacity through receiving training on business continuity measures, fiscal and nonfiscal support for climate change adaptation and post-disaster recovery, the creation
of local business networks, and more direct links with the Tourism Corporation and
Tourism Industry Council.
S. Mannakkara
this knowledge more widely. The Tourism Industry Council commented that they
have an accreditation standard based on the disaster preparedness of businesses. The
businesses still felt that better DRR and CCA information and training programmes
are necessary for better adaptation.
17.9 Business Resilience in Rarotonga
The coastal tourism businesses understood their importance to the economy of the
country and strived to rise above the challenges posed by climate change impacts.
Apart from individual adaptive structural measures taken by businesses, the businesses remained aligned with the social and cultural values of the Cook Islands and
took advantage of the strong village networks and relationships as a way of being
resilient. Businesses and community members have a culture of assisting each other
in times of disasters. Rarotonga displayed unique attributes such as neighbouring
businesses that normally compete with each other coming together to share resources
and manage guests post-disaster. There was an underlying principle that bound the
business community in working for the collective good of the tourism industry and
economy, which is an impressive indicator of resilience. The businesses found that
assisting each other at the grassroots level was largely more effective than awaiting
Government level or external help.
The businesses had not considered the slow-creep impacts of climate change in
terms of business continuity planning but placed a lot of effort into monitoring their
business recovery progress following disaster events based on rebuilding progress,
aesthetics, number of guests, turnover and speed of general business recovery. The
businesses prioritised making a “good impression” to keep attracting guests and
tourists and thus ensured that they contributed to business resilience and growth
through being open to change and having good relationships with the community
and other businesses.
The resilience and adaptation capabilities of businesses in terms of social and
economic well-being were impressive and aligned with BBB as presented in the
earlier sections of this chapter; however, there was a lack of input and facilitation evident from government organisations. For instance, bodies such as the
Tourism Corporation and Tourism Industry Council could add value by assisting these
businesses with further resilience-building. Businesses can improve their adaptive
capacity through receiving training on business continuity measures, fiscal and nonfiscal support for climate change adaptation and post-disaster recovery, the creation
of local business networks, and more direct links with the Tourism Corporation and
Tourism Industry Council.