The former chief executive officer of the English Tourism Council (ETC), Mary Lynch, has claimed that Britain’s tourism industry is not doing enough to prepare for future crises.

Lynch believes that although the industry has been dealt several severe blows in recent years – foot and mouth disease, September 11, the Gulf War, terrorism and SARS – it has not learned from them and fears this will cost in the sector dear when the next crisis hits.

“There is so much more than could be done to make the industry more resilient,” said Lynch.

“Government and industry must work together to develop contingency plans and help Britain’s 175,000 small tourism businesses plan ahead and avoid financial losses.”

Lynch, who now runs her own consultancy, makes the claims in a book she has written offering advice and guidance for businesses faced with a crisis.

The book says the British tourism industry is still struggling to recover from the effects of the recent crises and that if present trends continue it will earn the same in 2004 as it did in 2000, meaning four years’ growth has been lost.

The World Travel and Tourism Council estimates that six million jobs in tourism have been lost worldwide in the last three years.