Disaster Preparedness, Security, and Historical Landmarks: A case study on protecting national landmarks

• In Event: Poster Session

Abstract

By its very nature, tourism is vulnerable to natural and man-made disasters, impacted by climate change, political and economic volatile situations. Internationally, there are no agreed upon preventative practices that countries should conduct to protect spaces of historical and tourism value. In lieu, countries have developed disaster planning and management approaches. A recent review by Ritchie and Jiang (2019) indicates within the abundance of disaster planning critical gaps persist. There is little focus on the nature of crises and disasters, nor an appreciation of the severity of the disaster. This paper examines the disaster preparedness of two significant landmarks – the Statue of Liberty in the USA and Jeju Island in Republic of Korea (South Korea). I focus on the key protective factors. Preliminary analysis indicates similarities that these plans are not available to the public nor made publicly available. Next, clarity and accessibility are limited. There is some emphasis on water disaster management (as both landmarks are surrounded by water), but negligible focus on slow-acting disasters such as climate change. Crime is not directly considered. The article provides a comparative analysis of both sites and lays out recommendations for editing and expanding the current disaster preparedness plans for both historical landmarks.

Author

• William Yoon, Philips Exter Academy