Drought and heatwave response for tourism organisations

Droughts and heatwaves can involve water shortages, dust storms, the risk of visitor heat stroke or the closure of tourist attractions in extreme heat conditions.

Lead agencies

  • Local council
  • Regional tourism organisation (RTO)
  • Local tourism organisation (LTO)
  • Queensland Health – heatwave
  • Department of Regional Development, Manufacturing and Water (DRDMW) – water shortage
  • Tourism and Events Queensland (TEQ)
  • Department of Tourism and Sport (DTS)

Key steps to take

  • Check incident facts – what, where, when, who and how impacted, what can/can’t say publicly with lead agency.
  • Liaise with TEQ and local council, if required.
  • Prepare messaging, see below.
  • Encourage tourism operators to advise visitors and staff how to prepare for a heatwave and how to avoid heat stress.
  • Send notifications/updates to tourism operators and visitor centres.
  • Ensure reception/call centre/visitor centre staff have messaging regarding the incident to respond to direct queries.
  • Monitor media and log enquiries.
  • Respond to tourism-related media queries – refer emergency related queries to lead agency.
  • Brief key tourism industry spokesperson with key messaging, if required.
  • If appropriate, revise/suspend scheduled social media and advertising campaigns.
  • Liaise with tourism network – DTS/QTIC/TEQ.
  • Implement initial recovery messaging – social media, website and advertising.
  • Issue media release, interviews as appropriate.
  • Use photos to tell the story.
  • Contact impacted operators to provide assistance and advice.
  • Share agreed messaging with tourism operators (as per TEQ).
  • Coordinate and implement ongoing detailed recovery campaign with TEQ and DTS.
  • Evaluate what worked and what didn’t.
  • Update crisis toolkit.

Messaging to use for water restrictions and heatwaves

  • XXXX is currently experiencing drought conditions, with water levels lower than usual.
  • To respond to the situation, the local council has introduced water restrictions.
  • This means residents and visitors can only use a maximum of XXXX litres per day.
  • This is the equivalent of XXXX. We recommend having XXXX minute showers to help conserve water.
  • XXXX remains open for business with multiple tourist attractions available to suit all visitors.
  • XXXX is expected to experience very high temperatures over the coming days and tourists are advised to take care during this time.
  • People over 75, pregnant women and children under three, as well as those with pre-existing health conditions, are particularly vulnerable during a heatwave.
  • All visitors should take care to avoid being dehydrated, sunburnt, or exhausted.
  • Visitors should also drink plenty of water, at least 2L a day, and apply plenty of high factor sun cream.
  • Holidaymakers heading for the beach should go early and seek out shade during the hottest part of the day, between 11am and 3pm.
  • If you have small children remember they are even more susceptible to the sun, so make sure they are covered up with plenty of high factor sun cream or in the shade and never leave them in parked cars.
  • The most common signs of heatstroke include confusion, dark-coloured urine (a sign of dehydration), dizziness, fainting, fatigue, headache, muscle or abdominal cramps and nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.
  • If you experience any combination of these symptoms, please drink plenty of water and seek medical attention immediately.

Tourism crisis communication toolkit

Download the Tourism crisis communication toolkit for regional tourism organisations (PDF, 8MB).

This toolkit has been jointly funded by the Australian and Queensland governments under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) for regional tourism organisations.

  • Last reviewed: 15 Mar 2024
  • Last updated: 15 Mar 2024