If a bushfire starts near your business, you and your employees may be under pressure to ensure the safety of yourselves and others.
A written plan may save lives by helping you to stay focused and respond in the best possible way when under pressure. Preparation may also help to minimise the loss of profits and get a business back up and running more quickly after the threat of fire has passed.
Tourism Business Fire Ready Kit
Tourism Victoria and the Country Fire Authority (CFA) have developed the Tourism Business Fire Ready Kit to assist businesses prepare for fire.
The kit will help you understand your risks, prepare your business and employees, plan how to inform customers, identify their triggers to act and write a plan.
- Tourism Business Fire Ready Kit 2013 (PDF 1333.86 KB)
- Tourism Business Fire Ready Kit - accessible version (DOCX 927.72 KB)
The CFA provides further support and information on planning for a bushfire.
Bushfire information for your customers
Free resources designed to inform visitors about fire risk are available to order. Choose from brochures, key tags and Fire Danger Rating displays.
Community Information Guides, which provide local information that will help people plan what to do on high risk days or if a fire starts, are also available for a number of tourism destinations.
Case studies
Preparing for bushfires: Countrywide Cottages (Great Ocean Road)
Di Schulze explains what steps she has taken to prepare her business for bushfires.
Preparing for bushfires: DULC (Grampians)
Pru Farrer talks about her experience during the 2006 bushfires and what contingency plans she has in place to help protect her business.
Support and resources
- When customers cancel: guidance for tourism businesses – Consumer Affairs Victoria has produced this guide to help explain your rights and the rights of your customers when it comes to cancelling bookings in the event of a crisis and why a cancellation policy may avoid potential problems. See the following link for more information
- Employment entitlements during natural disasters or emergencies – The Fair Work Ombudsman has developed this fact sheet to help businesses and employees understand their options and entitlements.
- Crisis Essentials: Crisis Management Guide for Tourism Businesses (PDF 1416.31 KB) – This guide provides information to assist tourism businesses to prepare for, respond to, and recover from a crisis event such as a bushfire.
- Immediate action checklist - First 24 hours (PDF 25.09 KB)