Leading international and Australian experts in tourism risk and emergency management will gather in Sydney this week for a UN-sponsored forum aimed at developing more seamless cooperation in the event of natural disasters and other crisis events.

The University of Technology Sydney is hosting the UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Forum on the Integration of Tourism and Emergency management on 20 and 21 September, the first UNWTO conference held at an Australian university. Co-convener is the Australian Emergency Management Institute.

UTS expert in tourism risk, crisis and recovery management, Dr David Beirman, said the forum was a next stage in establishing cooperative policy, strategy and practice between the public and private sectors of the tourism industry and government and private sector emergency management agencies.

It will highlight the results of work commissioned by the UNWTO and undertaken by Bournemouth University in UK on the integration of emergency management and tourism and will also feature best practice Australian and international initiatives.

Key speakers include:

• Dr Dirk Glaesser, Chief of the UN World Tourism Organisation Risk and Crisis Management Unit
• Mr Richard Gordon MBE, Director of Bournemouth University Centre for Disaster Management
• Mr Wayne Emery, Resources, Energy and Tourism-Australia, who will release RET’s updated critical incident response plan
• Mr Masato Takamatsu, CEO Japan Tourism Marketing, who will discuss lessons learned from the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami