Polycrises Are the New Reality — Preparedness Is No Longer Optional
Airports around the world experience system outages. Thousands of travellers are stranded. Aircraft remain grounded, customer-service capacities are overwhelmed, and social media channels erupt within minutes. Scenarios like these are precisely what major travel companies must be prepared for — not at some point in the future, but at any moment.
For leading tour operators, which enable millions of holiday journeys each year, crises are not theoretical exercises. They are an inherent part of operating in a highly interconnected, global environment. Yet even the most experienced organisations increasingly confront a fundamental question:
How prepared are we really — in light of the new international standard for crisis management, ISO 22361?
Large-scale travel organisations have invested in sophisticated crisis-management capabilities for many years. Dedicated core teams of experienced specialists operate year-round and can rapidly be reinforced by broader pools of functional and business leaders when circumstances require. The result is often a highly developed system with substantial operational depth and organisational reach.
However, the publication of DIN EN ISO 22361 in February 2023 introduced a new perspective. The key question was no longer whether a crisis-management system existed, but whether existing practices reflected what is now considered international best practice.
ISO 22361 extends well beyond traditional crisis structures and response mechanisms. It places greater emphasis on systemic thinking, governance frameworks, organisational learning, leadership effectiveness, and the ability to adapt crisis-management capabilities to an organisation’s specific context and risk profile.
A Reality Check for a Mature Crisis Organisation
Even the most advanced crisis-management systems benefit from periodic external scrutiny.
This is where the collaboration between organisations and Rosenberg Strategic Communications begins.
- The objective is not to redesign or replace existing crisis-management structures. Rather, it is to conduct an independent, evidence-based assessment that evaluates:
- The extent to which the organisation already aligns with the requirements and principles of ISO 22361.
- Which elements of the standard are genuinely relevant from a business and operational perspective.
- Where existing structures, governance mechanisms and processes can be further strengthened or refined.
A critical aspect of this work is distinguishing between theoretical compliance and practical relevance. Not every requirement within a global standard is equally meaningful for every organisation.
Rosenberg helps leadership teams make these distinctions deliberately and transparently through a structured methodology tailored to the realities of globally operating travel businesses. The result is a pragmatic and fact-based “reality check” that focuses on what truly matters rather than pursuing compliance for its own sake.
Strong Foundations, Targeted Enhancements
Such assessments typically confirm a high degree of organisational maturity, particularly in areas such as leadership, governance, operational responsiveness and crisis coordination.
At the same time, they often identify opportunities for targeted improvement, including:
- Further formalisation of governance structures in line with ISO 22361.
- Refinement of crisis-communication strategies in response to evolving digital and social-media dynamics.
- More systematic learning mechanisms derived from both real-world incidents and crisis simulations.
Findings are documented in a structured manner and reviewed with senior management through dedicated workshops. This allows organisations not only to evaluate the effectiveness of their current capabilities, but also to define targeted initiatives that strengthen resilience and future readiness.
When Expertise Meets Reality
In an era characterised by geopolitical uncertainty, climate-related disruptions, technological dependencies and increasing global mobility, crisis management is no longer a defensive function.
It is a strategic capability.
Assessing an organisation against ISO 22361 is therefore not a sign of weakness. On the contrary, it reflects organisational maturity and leadership confidence: the willingness to subject established practices to rigorous, objective evaluation and to continuously improve.
Rosenberg Strategic Communications supports organisations through a structured, business-specific approach rather than off-the-shelf solutions — always with a clear focus on what genuinely creates resilience, strengthens decision-making and enhances organisational readiness when it matters most.
