The provision of travel advice to tourists visiting disaster area: The case of Banda Aceh

Abstract

Abstract Banda Aceh has much revived and transformed into a better degree from the devastating tsunami disaster in 2004. Structural, infrastructure and social transformation have led to the economic growth of the city. One of the contributing factors to the growth is tourism. The number of tourists visiting Banda Aceh has increased progressively every year, with the most significant number coming from neighbouring countries such as Malaysia. To support the tourism development sector, Aceh needs a sufficient infrastructure, high-quality services and complete information about the disaster mitigation preparedness since most of the places of interest, namely the tsunami historical sites, are located in the tsunami-prone area. Lack of official information about the disaster mitigation preparedness becomes one of the critical issues that need to be provided by the government. This paper evaluates the readiness of Banda Aceh Government and its agencies in providing disaster mitigation information to tourists. Data was gathered from a series of interviews conducted with travel agents (tour guide) and Malaysian tourists in April 2019. This paper argues that in the emergence of special interest tourism called ‘disaster tourism’ or ‘dark tourism’ in Aceh’s tsunami-prone area, the availability of disaster mitigation guides or travel advice for tourists are still lacking and need urgent solutions. This paper addresses some practical recommendations for Banda Aceh Government to undertake the issues.