TOURISM operators ought to ensure the health, safety and security of their customers.
But sadly, too many people lack safety consciousness. They are unaware of noticeable hazards and oblivious to hidden dangers.
On Sept 4, a foreign tourist drowned and eight others were rescued after their boat capsized off Sabah's east coast near Pulau Timba-Timba, not far from Semporna.
Four men were investigated for causing death by negligence.
In July, there was another drowning incident involving foreign tourists off Kudat, 580km north of Semporna by road.
More than 13 accidents involving tourists have been reported in Sabah.
Government agencies are likely to step up their roles in boosting the safety of tourists, but the game changer is the service provider.
Many may claim to practise safety first but without planning, implementation, monitoring and revisions, it is safety last.
The quantum leap would be the day when tourism operators are required to submit to the authorities standard operating procedures (SOPs) for managing emergencies and incidents.
Granted, writing down and adhering to SOPs are no easy tasks, and it's even more difficult to prepare contingency plans, as what could go wrong must first be identified before solutions are found.
It requires setting up a working committee to brainstorm and present their findings to the management for evaluation and advice.
This will involve many rounds of presentation and amendments before the contingency plans are ready.
The process could take a few weeks for small businesses to several months for larger organisations.
But the strenuous exercise will be worthwhile, as operators are forced to examine how their services are to be provided with safety and security measures in place.
This will create a more efficient and smoother operation.
Customers can choose organisations with contingency plans, knowing that they have thought out all the things that can go wrong and have taken measures to prevent them or minimise the risk.
And should anything untoward happen, they are ready to handle it.
It may take a decade to make it compulsory for tourism operators to submit their SOPs, including contingency plans, to the Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry for scrutiny.
But the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
For a start, it can be on a voluntary basis and those that have done so can be recognised under a star-rating safety system.
Tourism operators can publicise on their websites that they have contingency plans in place plus the star rating given by the ministry as additional selling points.
Y.S. CHAN
Kuala Lumpur