DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2014.v02i06.003

Pages: 866-870

Natural disasters like cyclone now are very frequent worldwide, specially with its hard impacts in coastal regions of India. The state of Orissa having severely exposed to the natural hazard faces a great difficulty multiple times in past few years. The impact of natural disasters not only threatens the life and living of the local people but disrupts and increase vulnerabilities of the tourists who to satisfy their varied interests visits the places of Orissa. The situation became more pathetic who are local people in one hand having the experiences of earlier disaster situation, and have to serve the tourists of different kind at the same time on the other. They are the local hotel service providers who have to serve their guest at the time of natural disaster and to support their family at the same time. In this context, the present ethnography tries to explore the means and the ways of the hotels of Puri, Orissa have resisted the crisis of the disastrous impact of the giant cyclone-Phailin on 11th October, 2013. The study further aims to understand the process of the management of the hotels and guests houses to serve better and minimize the risks of the tourists in emergencies. The issues of warnings, preparation, communication, interactions and instantly generated mechanisms of the hotel owners and staffs to deal with tourists in a situation under threat are discussed in the present effort to contribute knowledge on the issues of hospitality, support and tourist well being in the face of a disaster.