Cruise giant Carnival is getting plenty of opportunities to put their crisis management strategies to the test. Having recently announced that their ships would not be visiting Mexican ports due to H1N1 risk, I’m sure the announcement of a military coup in the Honduras, another of their most popular ports, caused quite a scare.
Eager to control the story and reduce fears, Carnival granted interviews to news outlets worldwide. Here’s a quote from one featured in the USAToday travel section:
“Our local contacts on the island are advising us that there are currently no issues in Roatan,” de la Cruz tells USA TODAY. “We are monitoring the situation and keeping in touch with authorities there, however, at this time we are anticipating that we will be able to call in Roatan later this week as scheduled.”
Being that they have a monopoly on cruises to the Honduras for the next few months, there’s no doubt Carnival will do whatever they can to both keep their passengers safe and aid in reputation management for the area. If even one passenger is harmed, however, they’ll have a much more difficult situation to manage.
JB
Jonathan Bernstein
www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com