Boxing Day tsunami five year anniversary

Natural disasters can cause years worth of disruption and a lifetime of sorrow in the space of just a few minutes. The fragility of life is nowhere more apparent then in the aftermath of such events.

British Red Cross 'Decisions for Recovery'

Visitor numbers have begun to increase

This year the British Red Cross took a look back at the road to recovery for South East Asia following the devastating 2004 Boxing Day tsunami.  By 2006 Thailand’s visitor numbers were back to pre-tsunami levels and 2007 saw a 23% increase in visits compared to 2004. Other markets such as Indonesia took slightly longer to recover, with tourist visits reaching 2004 levels only in 2007. By 2008 Indonesia saw a 17% increase in visitor numbers compared to 2004 according to the World Tourism Organization.

“The challenges were enormous, the decisions were incredibly difficult, but today I feel very proud of what the Red Cross achieved to help rebuild people’s lives and, more than that, build them back stronger,”

- Alastair Burnett, British Red Cross disaster recovery manager

The British Red Cross helps people in crisis, whoever and wherever they are. They are part of a global voluntary network, responding to conflicts, natural disasters and individual emergencies. They enable vulnerable people in the UK and abroad to prepare for and withstand emergencies in their own communities. When the crisis is over, they help them to recover and move on with their lives.

An interactive challenge

In an effort to communicate and educate others on the type of decisions the British Red Cross are faced with during such disaster relief efforts they have put together an interactive challenge, ‘Decisions for Recovery‘.  The web-based challenge draws from real-life dilemmas and allows you to direct and co-ordinate the response to a major disaster.

Further information

• On Travelfish.org – The Boxing Day Tsunami: Five years on. Our experience in Sri Lanka