Sonesta International Hotels

A disaster of any kind can have a long-lasting effect on tourism to a particular destination. However, when the disaster is an attack specifically aimed at tourists, the situation is even more dire. Such was the case of Egypt's Sonesta St. George Hotel in November 1997, when terrorists attacked and killed 65 people, most of them tourists. Because the hotel had just opened, its disaster plan was still just a piece of paper. Although hotel staff members had not been trained in the disaster plan, general manager Rob McCarthy handled the situation with aplomb. His first attention was to the survivors of the attack and their families. Next he attended to the needs of employees and gave them full information about all aspects of the situation, holding back nothing. After the tragedy, the owner retained most of the hotel's employees, even though occupancy was decimated. Sonesta then turned its attention to its travel partners, the tour operators, who themselves were experiencing blanket cancellations for all Egyptian trips. Sonesta offered them complete refunds of deposits for all cancellations. For the owner, who was now effectively supporting the hotel's employees, Sonesta deferred or forgave its management fees. Throughout, Sonesta maintained strict control of information flowing from the hotel to quash rumors and to prevent damage to the company's image for a situation over which it had no control.