Disaster recovery

Queensland tourism operators and visitors must be prepared and ready to act in the event of a natural disaster or when affected by an emergency.

Preparing for natural disasters

A natural disaster can affect tourism businesses in many ways. It can also impact on your employees, customers, competitors and the local community.

The Queensland Government offers a range of support for the tourism industry to prepare and recover from natural disasters.

Tourism Operators

Planning and preparing for a natural disaster before it happens can ensure that your business recovers quickly.

To minimise the impact of natural disasters, tourism operators should:

• Prepare: Plan to manage your risk. You can help prepare your business for risks and emergencies by using the Tourism Business Health Check and the Get Ready Tourism information and checklists.
• Respond: Put your plans into action.
• Recover: Get back to business.

We provide resources to assist tourism operators to plan, prepare and respond to a natural disaster.

Read our Tourism Disaster Planner for tourism operators (PDF 96.1KB) to find more information about:

• Preparing for a natural disaster before it happens.
• Responding to a natural disaster in the first 24 hours.
• Responding to a natural disaster in the 2-14 days following a disaster.
• Recovering from a natural disaster that has affected your tourism business.
• Managing cancellations following a natural disaster.
• Accessing further support and information following a natural disaster.

To ensure your tourism customers are prepared for a natural disaster it is recommended that tourist operators and relevant organisations have copies of the Tourism Disaster Planner for tourists (PDF 8.7KB) printed for distribution.

While the advice for tourists is expected to be accessed via the internet, this may not be possible in the event where serious disruption occurs to power and/or telecommunications.

Tourism visitors

Due to its unique climate and environment, Queensland can experience extreme weather events and natural disasters like cyclones, floods and bushfires.

When visiting Queensland, you need to be prepared and ready to act in the event you will be affected by an emergency.

You may be required to adjust your travel and holiday plans according to advice from the Queensland Government Disaster Management group when a natural disaster occurs.

In the event of a natural disaster, tourism visitors and travellers may be:

• required to postpone or cancel a holiday or trip
• requested to leave an area affected by a natural disaster
• prevented from entering an area affected by a natural disaster as authorities have advised the area is not safe to enter.

We provide additional resources to assist people to plan, prepare and respond to a natural disaster while travelling or holidaying in Queensland.

Read our Tourism Disaster Planner for tourists (PDF 8.7KB) to find more information about:

• What to do when visiting Queensland and a natural disaster strikes.
• What to do when a natural disaster disrupts your travel arrangements.
• Accessing further support and information about a natural disaster, including useful contacts for safety information and advice.

Tourism customers have certain rights under Australian Consumer Law when travel and holiday plans are disrupted by a natural disaster.

Visit the Get Ready Queensland website for more information about planning, responding and recovering from a natural disaster.