Should I travel after a natural disaster?

The return of tourism in the weeks and months after a natural disaster can bring much-needed money to help with recovery efforts. But it’s vital to consider the feelings of local communities, and tour operators with in-country connections are a reliable source of advice.

When a country is hit by a natural disaster, the swift return of responsible tourism – once it is safe – can help with recovery. But every situation is different, and travelling to an area recently affected by disaster must be done with due care and consideration for local feeling, as well as the practicalities. Below, we explain how you can help, and what to keep in mind before deciding whether to travel.

Remember that every situation is different

In September 2023 Morocco was hit by a 6.8 magnitude earthquake, with an epicentre in the High Atlas Mountains just 70km from the city of Marrakech. At least 3,000 people were killed and 300,000 others affected, many of them left homeless. The worst effects were felt in remote, rural areas that were hard for rescuers to access in the immediate aftermath. Our local partners informed us that in Marrakech life was almost back to normal just a few days after the earthquake, with most shops, restaurants and cafes open for business. Tour operators were able to continue with almost all their scheduled trips, with a few adjustments necessary for those trekking in the High Atlas Mountains.

By contrast, when Nepal suffered a horrific earthquake in April 2015 that killed almost 9,000 people and injured 22,000, it took at least two years for tourism to fully recover. Trekking in remote parts of the Himalayas was possible again very quickly, and the country’s famous Annapurna Circuit was unaffected. But heritage tourism took much longer to return, with some sites in the capital, Kathmandu, left under rubble for years as rebuilding funds were tied up in bureaucracy and government inaction.

There are several reasons why Morocco appears to have fared better, but one of the most important is connectivity. With several airports, none of them damaged by the earthquake, it was easy and fast for international aid to get into the country, and in doing so there was no conflict with the movements of tourists. Nepal in 2015 had only one international airport which would have slowed the response.

Natural disasters hit destinations in different ways, too. For example, both Maui in Hawaii, and Rhodes in Greece, were wracked by wildfires in 2023. There was outrage at footage of people enjoying themselves on holiday on both islands, even as tourists were evacuated from their hotels and many residents were left homeless. Yet in both cases, only part of the island was affected by fires, and tourism was able to continue elsewhere. Many local people supported this, as a steep loss of tourism income would have been tragedy on top of tragedy.

Justin Francis, founder of Responsible Travel, travelled to Thailand not long after the 2004 tsunami: “In Phuket, local people were telling me that the fact that tourists had stopped travelling was creating an ‘economic tsunami’, meaning that their suffering was being compounded by lack of income from tourism. However, that does not mean the situation might not be different in other disaster areas, and it is these sensitivities that we need to understand.”

Wait for things to calm down

The biggest dilemma is whether to travel to the disaster-struck area or not. Perhaps you have booked a trip already or were thinking of it for later in the year. Should you skip it and go to the next place on your wish list, or should you just go? Perhaps you have visited the country in the past, fallen in love with the place and, following news of a disaster, you are kept awake at night wondering whether to go back and help? This desire to help is a normal human reaction.

But, as all the experts will tell you, in the immediate aftermath, we need to stand back and let the experts do what they do best. The doctors, the nurses, the emergency workers, the shelter builders, the food suppliers. They will always let us know if they need help but, until they do, please stand back, and think of other ways you can help, such as by donating to fundraising drives.

The advantage of booking with responsible holiday companies is that they work hand in hand with many local businesses. This puts them in a very good position to tell you if it is possible to get to the place in question, and if tourists are welcome during this difficult time.

Ask the experts

The next step is to talk with local experts to see if it is still advisable to go ahead with your travel plans. In many cases, you may have booked a holiday to a completely different region that hasn’t been affected. Or your trip might not be for another few months, at a time when tourism income will be vital for the local economy and business will boost morale. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s travel advice for each destination can be a useful first source of information. But it is often overly cautious, with blanket warnings in place for long periods, when really some places may be perfectly safe to visit.

The advantage of booking with responsible holiday companies is that they work hand in hand with local hoteliers, tour guides, airports, charities, conservation agencies, ferry companies, you name it. This puts them in a very good position to tell you if it is possible to get to the place in question, and if tourists are welcome, or when it would be realistic to travel there. If some tourists in Maui seemed oblivious to the suffering going on nearby, it may be that they were insulated from it by travelling with tour operators lacking that local connection.

Their websites and social media outlets may well keep you up to date. At Responsible Travel, where we represent many of these holiday companies, we can put you in touch with them for updates on the ground, when communication is possible.

Volunteering

As you will see from our volunteering travel guide, volunteering in a destination shouldn’t be done on a whim at the best of times, as there are lots of issues to take into account. This is doubly the case after a natural disaster, not only for the reasons given above, but also because it is important to only sign up for a viable volunteering project that is responsible and well thought-out. You must ensure that your skills and abilities are really needed and that you aren’t taking a job that could or should be given to a local resident. Just about the most irresponsible thing you can do, unless you have excellent contacts on the ground, is to jump on a plane post-disaster and offer help, without guidance or research.

Donate to recovery efforts

In most cases, in the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster, the advice will be to give generously. Some of the leading international organisations that we recommend are Doctors without Borders, Red Cross, or a rather ingenious UK charity that supplies emergency shelters that save lives, ShelterBox. We also recommend the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), an umbrella group of 13 UK-based charities that work at grassroots level in countries around the world affected by natural disasters. If you prefer to donate to smaller, local charities, our holiday partners will be able to point you in the right direction.

Recovery can take years

Don’t forget that it can take years for some destinations to get back on the world tourism map. Especially if they were already suffering from poverty, instability, or war, which would have compounded the effects of a natural disaster. Travel with small, responsible holiday companies that ensure your money is directed to locally owned accommodation, restaurants, local guides, conservation groups and so on. Privately owned islands or all-inclusive resorts are less likely to make sure their profits make a difference to the people whose lives were turned upside down.