Crisis Communications in the Hospitality Industry

By Joan Stewart
The Publicity Hound

Your tour bus driver is pulled aside and ticketed for drunken driving while taking a busload of elderly people to Epcot Center.

A 4-year-old girl drowns in your hotel swimming pool while a lifeguard who was supposed to be on duty was talking with his girlfriend in the parking lot.

A member of your kitchen crew retaliates against an obnoxious diner by pouring an unspeakable body fluid into the diner's soup—and gets caught when the diner calls police.

It could happen to you. And just when you think it couldn’t possibly get any worse, there’s a reporter on line two. Here’s a list of 10 Commandments you should follow during a crisis in the hospitality industry.

1. Have a crisis communications plan in place to control the flow of information. Be sure employees understand who is responsible for speaking with the media.
    

2. Tell the truth, tell it all and tell it fast. See How to Keep the Media Wolves at Bay.
    

3. Never say “no comment” (even if your attorney tells you to) because it makes you look guilty. Always try to take control of the story and offer the media your side. See Alternatives to Saying "No Comment."
    

4. Prepare for an interview. Write down the three or four most important points you want to get across to the reporter. Anticipate tough questions and how you will answer them. See Special Report #2: Questions You Can Expect Reporters to Ask During an Interview.
    

5. Never talk off the record.
    

6. If a reporter calls about a crisis involving your business that you know nothing about, respond only after the reporter explains what the story is about. Ask what angle they are taking and who they already have spoken to. See The Dangerous Hidden Secrets of Print and Broadcast Reporters.
    

7. Keep your cool. Never hang up on a reporter, order a TV camera crew off the property or punch out a photographer.
    

8. Always correct errors. See How to Ask for a Correction.
    

9. Dump all the bad news at once. See Special Report #28: The News Conference: When to Hold It and How to Do It Right
    

10. Return reporters’ phone calls immediately.