When a crisis occurs, the ultimate aim of a National Tourism Organisation (NTO) should be to provide clear structures for organising crisis response and determine a clear set of responsibilities for its employees and subcontractors that will allow for faster, more efficient reactions.

Therefore, good crisis preparedness also requires NTOs to have a realistic picture of the types of crises that can occur within their country’s borders and in neighbouring countries that might affect their own country. It also involves clearing as many bureaucratic/practical obstacles out of the way in advance as possible to allow an agile and sensitive response when a crisis occurs. This checklist guides NTOs and partners systematically.

This checklist acknowledges that across Europe, there is considerable variation in how national tourism organisations are resourced and the functions they are expected to provide.

From country to country, there are variations in:

• NTOs’ responsibilities, internal structures and competencies,
• Governance structures (e.g. centralised vs. federal), with different policing and civil protection structures (state vs. regional)
• Resourcing that allows for varying levels of reach in terms of business support measures, research, and campaign deployment, among other areas.

Decision-making relating to major incidents resides with national governments and regional administrations, with these institutions usually taking precedence.

• Introduction
• Phase 1: Preparedness
• Phase 2: Response
• Phase 3: Recovery
• Phase 4: Resilience