Standards on disaster risk management for hotels and resorts

In many countries, the tourism industry plays an important role in advancing development and makes a significant contribution to the local, national and global economy. In order to improve disaster risk management capacities and to strengthen resilience in hotels and at tourist destinations, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH together with the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction Asia and Pacific (UNDRR) and the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has initiated the Hotel Resilient Initiative within the framework of the Global Initiative on Disaster Risk Management (GIDRM) in 2013.

The Standards on Disaster Risk Management for Hotels and Resorts are one of the outcomes of the Hotel Resilient Initiative and provide a framework for auditing the risk and resilience of hotels taking on a multi-hazard approach including structural, non-structural and organizational measures for hotels and resorts. Since the initial development of the Standards on Disaster Risk Management for Hotels and Resorts in 2018, the framework has been further refined leading to the development of the Hotel Resilient Standards as well as the establishment of the membership-based Hotel Resilient Institute. Interested hotels and resorts can become member of the Hotel Resilient Association in order to access the latest version of the Hotel Resilient Standards as well as use a number of software solutions that allow them to better understand their risk profile as well as manage the implementation of the standards in their business.