Introduction

Iraq's tourism industry is undergoing a remarkable transformation, as the tourism sector seeks to overcome the challenges posed by political, economic, and social conditions over the years. The importance of tourism public relations as a strategic tool that supports business continuity management and enhances the position of the Iraqi Tourism Authority on the regional and international stage.

Tourism Public Relations (TPR) can be defined as a structured set of strategic activities designed to promote and reinforce a favorable perception of tourist destinations. It focuses on strengthening communication channels with the public, investors, and various stakeholders. Such efforts play a vital role in positioning Iraq as an attractive tourism destination, contributing to increased tourist inflows and enhancing awareness of the country’s distinctive tourism assets and competitive advantages.

Business continuity management in tourism requires an effective integration of various tourism PR strategies, including crisis management, building relationships with the media, and promoting community engagement. Through these efforts, the Iraqi Tourism Authority is able to strengthen the sustainability of tourism services, enhance visitor satisfaction, and contribute to the advancement of local economic development. This study seeks to emphasize the strategic significance of tourism public relations as a core mechanism for sustaining tourism activities, as well as to examine its role in improving the Authority’s performance and its capacity to accomplish institutional objectives within dynamic and evolving environments.

In addition, crisis management is an integral part of a tourism PR strategy, as tourism requires the ability to recover quickly from crises and challenges that may arise. Hence, the impact that tourism PR plays in effective communication and crisis management becomes crucial. Having a quick and effective crisis response enhances public confidence and emphasizes the ability of the tourism authority to deal with sudden circumstances.

First Topic - General Framework of Research

First Theme - Research Methodology

First: The Research Problem

Iraqi tourism faces multiple challenges that hinder its development, including the negative repercussions of previous crises, such as security and political crises, and the imbalance in the public image of Iraq in the media. In light of this, the impact of tourism public relations is more important than ever, as it includes activities and strategies aimed at improving the public image and enhancing communication with the public, thus contributing to managing business continuity in the Iraqi tourism sector.

In light of the above, the research problem was diagnosed with the following questions:

1. How effective is the current tourism public relations adopted by the Iraqi Tourism Authority in enhancing business continuity in tourism?
2. What is the impact of tourism public relations on the management of crises and risks facing the tourism sector in Iraq?
3. How do tourism public relations influence the enhancement of business continuity within the Iraqi tourism industry?

Second: The Importance of Research

This research contributes to the development of knowledge about the impact of tourism public relations and its importance in business continuity management in tourism, as follows:

1. The research reinforces the importance of the role of the local community in the success of the tourism sector, which contributes to achieving sustainable development in tourist areas.
2. It provides actionable results that can positively influence the tourism policies and strategies adopted by the Iraqi Tourism Authority.
3. The research can contribute to identifying opportunities for collaboration between the Tourism Authority and private companies in the field of marketing and public relations.
4. Research contributes to identifying how to strengthen international and local partnerships, contributing to the exchange of knowledge, resources, and experiences in tourism development.
5. Through the research results, DEWA employees are able to improve their skills and knowledge in the field of public relations, which increases their efficiency and ability to deal with variables.

Third: Research Objectives

This study seeks to examine the influence of tourism public relations on business continuity management within the Iraqi Tourism Authority, as outlined below:

1. To determine the public relations mechanisms implemented by the Iraqi Tourism Authority to ensure the sustainability and continuity of tourism-related activities.
2. To assess the effect of tourism public relations practices on the level of business continuity performance within the Authority.
3. To explore the challenges encountered by the Iraqi Tourism Authority in utilizing the various dimensions of tourism public relations to reinforce business continuity management.
4. To propose practical recommendations aimed at strengthening the role of tourism public relations in improving business continuity management at the Iraqi Tourism Authority.
5. To enhance employees’ awareness and provide appropriate training regarding the strategic importance of tourism public relations as a tool for sustaining business continuity and promoting sustainable development within the tourism sector.

Fourth: Research Methodology

The researcher adopted the analytical survey approach in this study by using structured questionnaire forms administered to the staff members of the Iraqi Tourism Authority, and subsequently performed statistical analysis on the respondents’ answers in order to test the research hypotheses.

Fifth: Research Population and Sample

1. Research Community: The (Iraqi Tourism Authority) was selected as the site for the research application, the Tourism Authority is considered one of the important departments in Iraq and it is the sectoral department responsible for managing the tourism industry in the country. Through it, the role of tourism is organized, developed, promoted and strengthened , continuous participation in the private sector, encouraging the role of tourism investment, and paying attention to the tourism sector in all its aspects. History of the establishment of the Tourism Authority Since its establishment, the Tourism Authority has gone through several structural stages before reaching its current structure and has become. The first official body responsible for the tourism sector in Iraq.
2. Research Sample: (Employees of the Iraqi Tourism Authority) headquarters were selected as the research sample, where (130) questionnaires were distributed and (127) questionnaires were retrieved, while the number of questionnaire forms valid for measurement and analysis reached (119) forms.

Sixth: Tools for collecting and analyzing research data

The researcher relied on collecting the data of the research variables through the following:

1. Theoretical Aspect of the Research: It includes foreign references, researches published in reputable journals, some Arabic researches published as well , as well as master's theses to cover the theoretical aspect.
2. The Practical Aspect of the Research: By employing statistical techniques represented in (survey instruments, reliability coefficients, weighted averages, measures of dispersion, regression analysis, and correlation coefficients), as well as the five-point Likert scale used to determine the respondents’ attitudes toward the research items (strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree).

T able (1) Five-point Liker Scale

Source: Prepared by the researcher.

Seventh: The hypothetical outline of the research

The proposed conceptual framework of the study was constructed to clarify the mechanism for implementing the applied dimension of the research variables, which encompasses the components of tourism public relations (tourism media, tourism advertising, tourism promotion, and tourism marketing) as an independent variable, in addition to the components of business continuity management (top management support, risk evaluation and mitigation, business impact assessment, awareness and training) as a dependent variable.

Figure (1) The hypothetical outline of the research

Source: Researcher preparation based on the research scale ( Bouchiha , Bulkhwa , 2024, 48-49).

Eighth: Research Hypotheses

The research hypotheses are formulated according to the following:

There is a significant impact of public relations tourism in business continuity management

1. There is a significant impact among the tourism media in supporting the senior management.
2. There is a significant effect among tourism advertising in the assessment and mitigation of risks.
3. There is a significant effect between tourism advertising in the analysis of the impact of the business.
4. There is a significant impact between tourism marketing in awareness and training.

Theme II - Previous Studies

First: Studies that dealt with the variable of tourism public relations

( Activating the Impact of Tourism Public Relations on the Activation of Domestic Tourism in Eastern Libya: A Field Study on Tourism Offices in the City of Derna and its Suburbs from the Perspective of Specialists )

This study sought to investigate the role of tourism public relations in strengthening tourist satisfaction. Through an examination of theoretical perspectives related to tourism public relations and tourist satisfaction, the study examines how tourism public relations contribute to improving visitor satisfaction and presents relevant implementation approaches. By selecting a particular tourist destination as a case study, the research carries out empirical investigation, gathers and analyzes data, and assesses the real impact of public relations strategies on enhancing tourist satisfaction. Ultimately, the study identifies a range of challenges facing tourism public relations in promoting tourist satisfaction and proposes appropriate strategies and practical recommendations to address these issues. The findings indicate that the effective execution of tourism public relations strategies can substantially improve tourist satisfaction, thereby offering solid support for the sustainable growth of tourist destinations..

(A Study on the Application of Tourism Public Relations in Enhancing Tourist Satisfaction)

A Study on the Application of Tourism Public Relations in Enhancing Tourist Satisfaction

This study sought to determine the application of tourism public relations in tourist satisfaction. By making an in-depth review of the theories on which the public relations of tourism and tourist satisfaction are based, this study examines the mechanisms through which the public relations of tourism can enhance tourist satisfaction and proposes respective application strategies. Employing a particular tourist destination as a case study, this study conducts an empirical research, data collection and analysis, and assessment of the real impact of tourism PR strategies on tourist satisfaction. Finally, the study comes to a conclusion. This study looks at a set of challenges facing tourism public relations in enhancing tourist satisfaction and propose strategies and suggestion to adapt to the challenges. The research results suggest that the tourism PR strategies should be implemented effectively, which can greatly improve the tourist's satisfaction, which provides the sustainable development of tourist destinations with a strong support.

(Harnessing the Potentials of Tourism in Nigeria through Public Relations)

Harnessing Nigeria's tourism potential through tourism public relations

Nigeria is no doubt blessed with abundant, diverse and attractive tourism assets that, if appropriately managed and geared towards the public interest, could contribute substantially towards transforming the socio-economic sector in the country. However, in spite of the existence of these very extensive resources, Nigeria has not been able to fully exploit them; the federal, state and local governments have yet to accept tourism as a sustainable source of foreign exchange and catalyst for national development. During times in which there are great economic pressures, the most noticeable symptom of institutional weakness is the lack of strong frameworks or strategic policies that are necessary to drive the tourism industry. Nigeria is still being challenged with security-related issues in various parts of the country. In addition to security issues, issues such as corruption, kidnapping, terrorism and administrative inefficiencies hinder the development of a globally competitive tourism sector. This study examines how the well of formulated and effective tourism policy can improve socio-economic performance. It also identifies the major challenges facing the industry and shows how the tourism public relations practices can be made efficient, so that sufficient awareness of the industry related challenges and the available solutions can be developed. The study has shown that the biggest barriers to tourism development are due to the lack of support from the government in various dimensions.

1. A study (Al-Ghazwani, Al-Jibani, 2023)
2. Study (Zhang& Jiang, 2024)
3. (2024 Study, Asohro )
4. ( Kihoro Study , 2024)

(Impact of Public Relations Efforts on Tourism Industry Growth in Developing Countries)

The Impact of Tourism PR Efforts on the Growth of the Tourism Industry in Developing Countries

This research work is aimed at evaluating the impact of tourism public relations campaigns on the growth of the tourism sector in developing countries. The research used a desk-based method of methodology, relying on secondary sources of data. Essentially, this is a process of acquiring and synthesizing existing information that was previously collected for analytical reasons. The present investigation has used scholarly publications and institutional reports.

The findings show that tourism public relations initiatives have positive impacts in strengthening the tourism PR framework by reinforcing the brand identity, and placing the cultural heritage in the forefront and increase global visibility, which can draw international visitors. These strategic practices of communication and communications help to have larger inflows of tourists and economic activities leading to job creations and growth in revenue. Moreover, tourism PR has been found to play an important role in improving destination perception in the global markets.

On the whole, the strategic implementation of public relations programmes can go a long way in providing support for tourism sector development in emerging economies. The study concludes that tourism PR strategies may be a basic reference point for considering their impact in the developing context. It also emphasizes the need to use innovative communication channels and platforms to promote tourism policies that will facilitate the sustainable growth of the tourism sector.

Second: Studies that dealt with the business continuity management variable

(CRITICAL FUNCTIONS IN ENSURING EFFECTIVE BUSINESS CONTINUITY MANAGEMENT. EVIDENCE FROM ROMANIAN COMPANIES)

Core functions in ensuring effective business continuity management. Evidence from Romanian Companies

This study explores how business continuity management (BCM) is defined within the professional and academic communities that work in or research the field. It identifies the framework for the elements of the formation of business continuity management that arise and looks at how these different elements interact with each other to build sound business continuity management. This study also examines the core functions of an organization that ensure effective business continuity management. This study is based on a questionnaire-based questionnaire, with data collected through personal interviews with senior and mid-level managers from Romanian SMEs. Survey results in studying 119 involved companies highlighted the critical role of risk assessment in developing a business continuity framework of the organisation, and continuity response planning was found to be the most important factor in determining the overall performance of business continuity in the organisation. The novelty of the research consists in the fact that it is the first to present the key functions, which are vital to the organization to continue their core processes during disruptive events and improve institutional resilience. The subsequent research needs to focus on investigating the possibility of business continuity mechanisms and impact assessment processes affecting the business continuity framework because the already available empirical evidence has not proven such effects.

(IMPROVING BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY BY CONNECTING BUSINESS CONTINUITY MANAGEMENT AND RISK MANAGEMENT)

Improve business sustainability by linking business continuity management and mucus management

Business continuity management is an organized managerial framework that supports the creation of organizational sustainability by supporting efficient response capabilities and the interests of the primary stakeholders, as well as other value-creating activities within the enterprise. Disruptions to critical organizational functions can breed significant consequences beyond the institution's ability to manage without proper preparation, ultimately leading to severe financial distress or even organizational failure. A spectrum of internal and external environmental factors determine the overall progress of an organization depending on the way that change is dealt with and the extent to which an organization may have been prepared for it, assuring stability within the organization.

The maintenance of business continuity is intrinsically associated to the assurance of uninterrupted execution of operations. Business continuity management is described as a systematic managerial process that is concerned with the identification of potential risks and evaluation of their implications for organizational operations. Accordingly, the study is aimed at highlighting the benefits of application of business continuity management within organizations, as it contributes to the consistent functioning of operational processes. When combined with risk management practices, organizations are able to achieve a more well-rounded understanding of their structures and activities that sustain the efficiency of workflows.

The importance of integrating business continuity management and risk management arises mainly because it provides greater preparedness to an organization to deal with unexpected situations, with the appropriate choice of the methods, tools and procedures used to activate and implement a sustainable system of enterprise. Through the application of both business continuity management and risk management, the organizations can enhance the ability to respond to negative conditions, as well as enhance the overall process of operations associated with the organization performance. Business disruptions can result from a number of factors that impact upon the ability of the organization to function effectively under complex and uncertain conditions. Consequently, central accent is laid on prevention, preparedness, quick response to the changing environment and the ability to respond to it adaptively and alter organizational activities from various dimensions.

1. Păunescu and Argatu , 2020)
2. Study ( Mošková & Buganová , 2023)
3. Study ( CoicIu & MilItaru , 2024)

Improvement of Cyber Resilience by Implementation of a Digital Business Continuity Management System: Evidence from Romania

Improving Cyber Resilience through the Implementation of a Digital Business Continuity Management System: Evidence from Romania

The present study endeavours to develop a model that is designed to augment organisational cyber resilience. In corporate settings where cyber-related threats have been cited as the most critical global risk for organisations for the third successive year, the proposed model proposes a structured approach to enhance cyber resilience through the adoption of a management system based on the Business Continuity Management Framework. This approach is supported through a dedicated software application for managing risk related data, conducting business impact assessments, managing contingency planning and recovery procedures and managing a cyber crisis situation.

The implementation of a digital Business Continuity Management System in combination with cyber crisis management mechanisms is considered through the simulation of a cyber crisis that interrupts organisational operations, including a ransomware-based crisis scenario. The simulation is presented as an entire design and implementation model that can be applied within any organisation that has an established Business Continuity Management System and internal IT department.

The results of the simulation show that the proposed approach is part of an effort to improve the organisation's level of cyber resilience. The novelty of the research is to combine theoretical concepts and practical tools with a unified model, through which the Business Continuity Management Framework is operationalised through a tailored software solution, advancing the digital transformation of management processes in order to strengthen both the organisational and cyber resilience.

Second Topic - The Theoretical Framework of the Research

The first axis – tourism public relations

First: The Concept of Tourism Public Relations

Tourism public relations, seeing as a fundamental function of modern organizational management, is based on understanding and joint efforts between enterprises and tourism related public through dissemination of information, coordinated relation and strategic image implementation. The ultimate goal is to achieve organizational goals. Within this domain, public relations practices go beyond the internal communication flows and the collaborative efforts between the members of the organization; they also involve active engagement with the external environment, which includes the media institutions, governmental agencies, local communities, customers, and potential stakeholder groups (Zhang & Jiang, 2024).

These public relations activities form the basic foundation of the success of those initiatives which are designed to rejuvenate the tourism sector in any country. The main function of tourism public relations in the development of tourism is to ensure its integration to the planning process from the very early stages. Accordingly, colliding with tourism specialists assembled by the governmental or planning authorities, brochures, magazines, and travel guides form an exceptionally effective instrument of public relations, as they contain comprehensive information to be provided to the tourists in relation to events, schedules, codes of conduct, and personal safety, maps, detailed description of tourist attractions, accommodation facilities, reference points and public amenities, and should be readily accessible to the visitors. From a human-centered perspective, communication with tour guides who are responsible for providing quality services and meeting the expectations of tourists must be done efficiently. Consequently, tourism public relations professionals not only bring people to visit various tourists but also play a very important role in ensuring that the expectations of visitors are met during their stay (Asohro, 2024, p. 27).

Second: Characteristics of Tourism Public Relations

The characteristics of tourism public relations are mainly embodied in the following aspects (85, Zhang & Jiang, 2024):

1. Goal-oriented, tourism PR activities revolve around specific organizational objectives.
2. Two-way communication, with an emphasis on information exchange and feedback between organizations and the tourism public.
3. Engagement with the tourism public, Tourism PR focuses on interacting with the tourism public and meeting their needs and feedback to improve the visitor experience.
4. Collaborate with influencers, Tourism PR collaborates with influencers via social media to promote destinations and attract more tourists
5. The strategic role requires the use of scientific methods and technical means to disseminate information and manage long-term relationships, as the effectiveness of tourism public relations is often reflected in building the brand and shaping the image in the long term.

Figure (2) Characteristics of Tourism Public Relations

Source: Prepared by the researcher.

Third: Tourism Public Relations Objectives

Tourism Public Relations endeavors to reinforce the favorable perception of tourist destinations and promote the advancement of the tourism sector through the attainment of several principal objectives, including (Bashir, 2022, p. 702):

1. Work to create diverse investment opportunities with the diversity of tourism activity, thus providing new job opportunities and diversifying the economy.
2. Working to increase the state's savings in the field of hard currency by imposing taxes and fees on various tourism activities.
3. It works to gain the trust of the masses of local and foreign tourists by performing their work well and respecting them by meeting the basic and luxury needs of the tourist and raising the standard of living.
4. Working to develop and promote environmental awareness of environmental issues among tourists, workers and the local community, for the important contribution that tourism can make to the environment and the economy.
5. Managing tourism crises by dealing with crises that may affect the tourism sector, such as natural disasters or health crises, in a way that preserves the reputation of tourism.
6. Strengthen partnerships through collaboration with other sectors such as hotels, airlines, and NGOs to strengthen the sector.

Fourth: Tourism Public Relations Department Jobs

The Tourism Public Relations Department performs multiple functions aimed at supporting and developing the tourism sector, which are as follows (Hoda, 2006, 65):

1. Research and Development Function: It means conducting research and studies related to knowing the public trends, whether through surveying, media studies or analyzing newspaper clippings, which are considered as an indicator that helps to know the tendencies, desires and views of the masses, and these are of great importance in tourism.
2. Planning Function: It means drawing up tourism public relations policies for the tourism institution by setting goals, designing media programs in terms of timing, distributing competencies and determining the works according to the budget , planning comes after research, after identifying the desires of tourists, and after studying the problems of the audiences.
3. Coordination Function: It means unifying views by collecting information received from outside the institution, as well as unifying the views of the institution when it wants to express itself so that no conflict or contradiction occurs, in addition to coordination between the institution and the various bodies and interests in the society to achieve consensus in social interaction and coordination between the different departments in the institution to achieve compatibility between them and the internal and external public.
4. The function of the Department: It means providing services to all departments and helping them to perform their functions related to the public, it helps the Department of Personnel Affairs in contacting them and preparing what is necessary to educate them and raise their morale, and in this way, the Department of Tourism Public Relations can help the departments in the field of communication with audiences of tourists, agents, journalists and others.
5. Production Function: It means contacting a large number of important works related to communications, media and publishing, in addition to contacting the press, issuing reports and holding conferences, the Tourism Public Relations Department produces films, tapes, advertising publications, organizes parties, salons and festivals, while supervising the Department of Tourism Information, ensuring the up-to-date of its materials, and providing its prompt and accurate services to internal and external audiences.
6. Evaluation Function: It means the evaluation of the results of the plans and programs and their effectiveness in general, in addition to the degree of effectiveness of the methods and tools used in the rest of the functions.

Figure (3) Tourism Public Relations Management Jobs

Source: Prepared by the researcher.

According to a study by Schmidt & Liam (2024), a comprehensive evaluation of tourism campaigns can increase the effectiveness of strategies by 30% by better responding to market needs and better allocating resources through the following (Schmidt & Liam, 2024, p. 89):

1. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) Analysis: Evaluation is based on measuring key performance indicators such as traffic, social media engagement, and customer satisfaction. These indicators help assess the extent to which the strategic objectives of tourism campaigns have been achieved.
2. Evaluation of the impact of media campaigns: Evaluation includes the analysis of the impact of media campaigns on the public's perception of the tourist destination. This is done by reviewing media coverage, newspaper reports, and content posted via social media.
3. Review of crisis management strategies: Evaluation also includes reviewing the crisis management strategies used during difficult times. Analyzing the effectiveness of these strategies helps improve the response to future crises.
4. Event Cost Analysis: Evaluation involves reviewing the cost of tourism activities and events against the resulting revenues. This helps improve budget allocation and increase spending efficiency.
5. Employee satisfaction survey: The assessment is not only about measuring the satisfaction of tourists, but also about the satisfaction of employees involved in PR campaigns. Employees who are satisfied with their work are better able to provide quality services.
6. Environmental and Social Assessment: The assessment also includes reviewing the environmental and social impact of tourism campaigns. This helps ensure that tourism activities are in line with sustainability principles and meet the needs of local communities.

Second Pillar – Business Continuity Management

First: The Concept of Business Continuity Management

Business Continuity Management (BCM) is a comprehensive strategy that incorporates several concepts, strategies, and processes to identify potential risks, assess their impacts, and create robust plans to ensure business continuity. Risk assessment, business impact analysis, continuity plan preparation, testing, implementation, and continuous improvement are all standard components of the business continuity management lifecycle (Păunescu and Argatu, 2020).

BCM stands for a formally orchestrated set of activities, purposed to maintain the consistency and stability of an organisation's operations. Realising business continuity with BCM is made possible with the assimilation of complementary disciplines such as risk management, tourism public relations, and crisis management. The basic building blocks - on which the entire process is built - are the conduct of a Business Impact Analysis (BIA) and the use of a risk appraisal as part of the larger concept of risk management. Derived from the result obtained from the BIA, temporal limits are defined that define the ability of the organisation to absorb disruptions; later, specific incidents and associated timeframes are matched with appropriate response strategies. Consequently, customized plans are developed to guide organisational actions in case of disruptive events (Mošková & Buganova, 2023, p. 41).

The ISO 22301 standard, "Business Continuity Management System Requirements for Community Security", gives a structured approach to the implementation and maintenance of business continuity with a focus on increasing organisational capability to manage incidents and the response to tourism related crises. BCM is thus conceptualised as an organisational process geared towards the fortification of resilience and managerial preparedness for planning of possible disasters and disruptive occurrences which may trigger operational losses or unavailability of critical resources such as human capital and technological infrastructure. Through this approach, organisations will be able to design proper response measures on risk and crisis scenarios to restore operations in an efficient way and mitigate adverse impacts in addition to preparing the management and crisis response teams through systematic training (CoicIu & MilItaru, 2024).

Second: Business Continuity Management Objectives

Business Continuity Management (BCM) is an integral part of any strong organizational strategy, providing a roadmap for maintaining operations in the organization and aims to:

1. Insure the organization against potential disruptions, such as natural disasters, IT failures, supply chain interruptions, and human-related incidents, such as strikes or malicious acts.
2. Business Continuity Management (BCM) assesses risks or business impact analysis, identifying vulnerabilities and potential impacts of operational disruptions.
3. Business continuity through which organizations can predict and overcome disruptions, eliminate the risk of process retention, and keep operations running.
4. Business continuity also includes training and awareness programs to familiarize employees with their duties and responsibilities during outages. Testing and exercises are key elements of business continuity, identifying gaps and areas for improvement while enhancing the organization's preparedness for interruptions.

Third: Business Continuity Management Life Cycle

Business continuity management is a systematic process designed to identify potential threats and evaluate their implications for an organization’s operational and tourism-related activities. As follows (Khalil & Hammoud, 2019, pp. 155–157):

Phase I: Program Management

The focus at this stage will be on obtaining the support and commitment of senior management, allocating the necessary human and material resources for the establishment, implementation and development of the business continuity management program in the organization, and the nomination or appointment of one or more persons who will be responsible for the business continuity management and the preparation of appropriate training for them.

Stage Two: Understanding the Organization

Management should have a clear understanding of the objectives, priorities and what resources are required, identify the sources of each of these resources, identify the current suppliers, what are the alternatives for them, and what are the main functions and services of the organization. In this stage, business impact analysis and risk assessment are at the core of the continuity problem because of the importance of studying the negative impacts on the underlying activities and resources that should be maintained.

Phase Three: Defining a Business Continuity Strategy

This phase involves identifying actions that can be taken during emergencies or disasters to maintain critical activities and resources that support the performance of the organization's functions and services after a downtime, as the outputs of the second phase use a list of the organization's critical business activities, the resources required, and the time period for resumption of work after an emergency, crisis or disaster.

Phase IV Implementation and Development of the Business Continuity Response

This stage develops plans and appropriate response options that ensure effective business continuity and the recovery of vital activities that support key tasks, as it is important at this stage to ensure that the plans for the continuity of the organization can be accessed and copies of them are kept, as there is no one plan that is suitable for all organizations, but other plans can be adapted to suit an organization, and in general, plans should include the purpose, policy, and scope of application of the plans.The person responsible for maintaining and maintaining plans, as well as roles, responsibilities, contact details, and incident management.

Phase Five: Review and Review of Business Continuity Procedures

This phase validates the procedures related to business continuity management in the organization through training and practice on how and when they will be used to verify their accuracy and completeness, with the establishment of conservation timelines and includes the following verification practices (testing, maintaining business continuity procedures, reviewing and evaluating business continuity procedures).

Step Six: Integrate Business Continuity Management into the organization's culture

In order to ensure success in business continuity it must become part of the culture of the organization. This can be achieved by combining awareness and training to ensure that all employees are aware of why business continuity is important to the organization and the role they are expected to play.

In light of the above, the above six stages will help implement business continuity management in any organization.

Figure (4) Business Continuity Management Lifecycle

Source: Prepared by the researcher based on (Hitoshi et al, 2014 ) (Khalil, Hammoud, 2019, 155).

Fourth: Dimensions of Business Continuity Management

The requirements and dimensions of business continuity management include the points outlined below (Bouchiha, Bulkhoua, 2024,15-16):

1. Senior Management Support: Management support is essential for the success of business continuity in organizations, as this can be achieved by identifying a central group within the organization that is responsible for managing business continuity, exchanging experiences and knowledge, coordinating best practices and consulting , establishing a business continuity management system, as well as ensuring appropriate funding for business continuity management activities at the organization level, and thus Demonstrate the importance of business continuity management and its role in adding value to the organization's business and participate in business continuity management training courses.
2. Risk Assessment and Mitigation: This dimension includes the assessment and identification of risks that can lead to disruption of operations within the organization, and upon completion of the assessment, the potential and more serious threats that affect the operations of the departments are identified, while the risk mitigation aspect consists of those actions that can be taken to reduce the likelihood of a certain risk occurring or reduce the impact in the event of a risk.
3. Business Impact Analysis: A business impact analysis is done by identifying critical processes that need to be recovered after a particular crisis, and a business impact analysis may include an initial discussion of recovery solutions needed to resume critical operations.
4. Awareness and training: The awareness and training dimension is very important and necessary in order to prepare employees for the recovery phase, and the training should be at least annually to ensure that employees understand the roles of business continuity and emergency response activities.

Third Topic - The Applied Aspect

First: Consistency of the questionnaire

Consistency is one of the key concepts in the evaluation of the quality of measurement instruments, and is defined as the ability of the instrument to achieve consistent and similar results when reapplied to similar samples or conditions after a specific period of time. Cronbach's alpha coefficient is one of the most prominent criteria used to estimate stability, where a value of 0.70 or higher is an acceptable indicator of stability quality, according to the results shown in Table (2). ), all calculated values of Cronbach's alpha coefficient show that they exceed the acceptable minimum. These results reflect a high quality in the stability of the instruments used in the study, enhancing their reliability in data collection and analysis in subsequent steps.

Table ( 2 ) Cronbach's alpha coefficient results

Source: SPSS V.28 Output

2. Internal consistency of the scale (half-segmentation)

To ensure the stability of the scale used in the study, the researcher relied on the half-segmentation test using the Spearman-Brown and Guttman coefficients, where they reached (0.888) and (0.879) respectively. These high values indicate a high level of stability, which reflects the scale's ability to provide consistent and reliable results under different conditions, and enhances its reliability to achieve research objectives with confidence.As shown in Table (3)

Table ( 3 ) "Half-Hash Test"

Source: SPSS V.28 Output

Second: Constructive Affirmative Honesty

1 – Public Relations Tourism

Figure (5) illustrates the tourism PR model, which consists of four main dimensions: tourism media, tourism advertising, tourism advertising, and tourism marketing, distributed over 16 questions. The extracted indicators showed their adherence to accepted standard standards, which reflects the quality and efficiency of the model in representing the basic dimensions, and enhances its reliability to conduct statistical analyses accurately and effectively.

Figure (5) Tourism Public Relations Model

Source: AMOS V.26

It is clear from Table (4) that the estimates of the answers to all the questions of the tourism PR variable ranged between (0.842 - 0.492), which indicates that the values fall within an acceptable range and show a clear significant significance.Furthermore, the extracted critical values (CR) ranging from (9.711 - 4.977) all showed that they were higher than the critical value of (1.96), which enhances the statistical significance of these questions as these results indicate that the questions have high truthfulness, which is a positive indicator that reflects the quality of the construction of the tool used to measure the tourism PR variable, which is a strong support for its adoption in the collection of subsequent analyses.

Table (4) Estimates of the dimensions of the public relations variable tourism

Source: AMOS V.26

1. Using Cronbach's alpha coefficient
2. Business Continuity Management

Figure (6) shows the business continuity management model consisting of four basic dimensions: senior management support, risk assessment and mitigation, business impact analysis, awareness and training, with 16 questions, where it was found that all the extracted indicators fall within the accepted standard standards, which indicates the quality and efficiency of the model in representing the basic dimensions and enhances its reliability to conduct subsequent statistical analyses accurately and effectively.

Figure (6) Business Continuity Management Model

Source: AMOS V.26

It is clear from Table (5) that the estimates of the answers to all the questions of the Business Continuity Management variable ranged between (0.899-0.604), which indicates that the values fall within an acceptable range and show a clear significant significance.Furthermore, the extracted critical values (CR) ranging from (13.697 - 7.072) all showed that they were higher than the critical value specified in (1.96), which enhances the statistical significance of these questions as these results indicate that the questions have high truthfulness, which is a positive indicator that reflects the quality of the construction of the tool used to measure the business continuity management variable , which is a strong supporter of its adoption in the collection of subsequent analyses.

Table (5) Estimates of the dimensions of the Business Continuity Management variable

Source: AMOS V.26

Third: Descriptive Analysis of Research Variables

1- Public Relations Tourism

It is clear from Table (6) that the highest general arithmetic mean reached at the dimension of tourism advertising, obtained the highest general arithmetic mean of (3.695), which reflects the importance of this dimension in the relevant context, and shows a good level of performance or evaluation. Also, the standard deviation (0.729) and the coefficient of difference (19.74) indicate a relative consistency in opinions or evaluations. This indicates that the performance in this field is fairly homogeneous among the participants, with few differences between their answers to come in The first place in terms of relative importance, as "after tourism marketing" is considered the least rated as its arithmetic mean reached (3.534) but it is still at a good level. However, the high standard deviation (0.887) and the coefficient of difference (25.09) indicate that there is a greater difference in opinions or evaluations about this dimension, which means that this field may require improvement or deeper examination to come in fourth place in terms of relative importance, and the general evaluation of the variable "Tourism Public Relations" with a total average of (3.633) indicates that it is at a good level, with a standard deviation (0.688) and a coefficient of difference (18.94). to come in first place in terms of relative importance

2- Business Continuity Management

Table (6) shows that the highest arithmetic average recorded was in the dimension of "awareness and training", where it reached (3.553) at a good level, and it was accompanied by a standard deviation of (0.827) and a coefficient of difference of (23.27), which positioned this dimension in the first rank in terms of relative importance. Conversely, the lowest mean value appeared in the dimension of "senior management support", recording (3.504) at a good level as well, accompanied by a standard deviation of (1.013) and a coefficient of variation of (28.90). This reflects a noticeable variation in respondents’ views regarding this dimension. In other words, some participants attribute greater significance to this aspect than others, indicating differences in perceptions or levels of awareness. Accordingly, this dimension ranked fourth in terms of relative importance.

Overall, the "Business Continuity Management" variable recorded a mean score of (3.539) at a good level, with a standard deviation of (0.828) and a coefficient of variation of (23.38), placing it in the second position in terms of relative importance.

Table (6) Descriptive statistics of research variables

Fourth : Testing Research Hypotheses

A. The First Main Hypothesis

(There is a significant correlation between public relations, tourism, and business continuity management)

Table (7) and Figure (7) show that the value of the correlation coefficient between tourism public relations and business continuity management reached (0.798**) at the significance level of (0.000), which is less than the significance level (0.05), This demonstrates the presence of a statistically significant and strong positive relationship between tourism public relations and business continuity management. Accordingly, this finding leads to rejecting the null hypothesis and accepting the alternative hypothesis, which confirms the existence of a significant correlation between tourism public relations and business continuity management..

Table ( 7 ) The Correlation Coefficients between Tourism Public Relations and Business Continuity Management

Source: SPSS V.28 Output

Figure ( 7 ) Values of the Correlation between Public Relations, Tourism and Business Continuity Management

Source: Amos v.26 Output

B. Testing the sub-hypotheses of the dimensions of public relations, tourism and business continuity management, as it is clear from Table (8) that the following:

As indicated in Table (8), the correlation coefficient (R) values reached (0.611**, 0.605**, 0.705**, 0.828**) at a significance level of (0.000), which is below the threshold of (0.05). This confirms the existence of statistically significant relationships between the dimensions of tourism public relations and business continuity management. The relationship ranged from medium to strong, which indicates that there is a strong correlation between the different dimensions of public relations, tourism, and business continuity management. The results show that tourism public relations directly affects business continuity management, with a difference in the levels of relationship between the different dimensions, as the results show that there is a strong and statistically significant relationship between the dimensions of tourism public relations and business continuity management, which means that tourism public relations plays a crucial role in the development and management of business continuity. One of the most prominent of these results is that tourism marketing has proven to be the factor. The largest relationship is related to business continuity management, where the highest correlation value was recorded (0.828**), on the other hand, although tourism advertising achieved the lowest correlation value (0.605**), it still represents a relationship with significant significance, and the table shows the summary of the decisions taken on the assumptions of correlation (9).

Table (8) Correlation values between the dimensions of public relations of tourism and business continuity management

Table (9) Hypothesis Testing the Sub-Correlation between the Dimensions of Public Relations Tourism and Business Continuity Management

Source: Prepared by the researcher

1. Testing correlation hypotheses
2. Testing Impact Hypotheses

A. Test the second main hypothesis

(There is a significant impact of public relations and tourism in business continuity management)

Table (10) and Figure (8) show the value of (F) extracted between Public Relations and Tourism in Business Continuity Management, as it was recorded (205.041). It is (greater) than the tabular (F) of (3.94) at the significance level of (0.05) and this result provides sufficient support for the acceptance of the alternative hypothesis that (There is a significant effect of public relations tourism in business continuity management), which indicates that there is a significant effect of public relations tourism in business continuity management, as public relations tourism was able to explain (63%) of the variables that occur in business continuity management. The value of (t) extracted for the variable was also recorded Public Relations Tourism (14.319). It is greater than the tabular (t) value of (1.984) at the significancevalue of (0.05) and this indicates the stability of the significance of (β) for the tourism public relations variable, as it is clear through the value of (β) that increasing tourism public relations by one unit will lead to an increase in Business Continuity Management (96%).

Table ( 10 ) Analysis of the Impact between Public Relations and Tourism in Business Continuity Management

Source: SPSS V.28 Output

Figure ( 8 ) Impact Analysis between Public Relations and Tourism in Business Continuity Management

Source: Amos v.26 Output

B. Testing the sub-hypotheses of the dimensions of public relations tourism in business continuity management .

Table (12) Hypotheses Testing the Sub-Impact between the Dimensions of Public Relations, Tourism and Business Continuity Management

Source: Prepared by the researcher

• Table (11) shows the results of the impact analysis between the dimensions of public relations and tourism in business continuity management, as the extracted value of (F) achieved a value of (69.555, 67.515, 115.419, and 255.521) respectively, indicating that there is a significant effect between (dimensions of public relations and tourism in Business Continuity Management) In light of this result, we accept the alternative hypotheses as shown in Table (12).
• The adjusted coefficient of determination (Adj. R²) recorded values of (0.367, 0.360, 0.492, 0.683), indicating variation in the explanatory power of the dimensions of tourism public relations with respect to the business continuity management variable. It was observed that the highest explanatory ratio was associated with the dimension of tourism marketing, which accounted for approximately (68%) of the variance in the business continuity management variable. In contrast, the lowest explanatory ratio was related to the dimension of tourism advertising, which explained nearly (36%) of the variance in the business continuity management variable.
• The calculated (t) values for the partial regression coefficients between the dimensions of tourism public relations and business continuity management were (8.340, 8.217, 10.743, and 15.985), respectively. These values exceed the tabulated (t) value of (1.984) at a significance level of (0.05), confirming the statistical significance of the partial regression coefficients for the tourism public relations dimensions represented by (Tourism Media, Tourism Advertising, Tourism Advertising, and Tourism Marketing).
• The values of the regression coefficient (β) for the different dimensions (0.657, 0.686, 0.746, 0.773) indicate that there is a difference in the power of the influence of the dimensions of public relations tourism on the variable of business continuity management, as these values show the extent of the impact of each dimension of public relations tourism on business continuity management, as the results showed that the highest impact force was for the dimension of tourism marketing, where the value of (β) was 0.773, which means that increasing this dimension by one unit will lead to an increase in business continuity management by 77%, while the least impact was for the tourism media dimension, where the value of (β) was 0.657, which means that increasing this dimension by one unit will lead to an increase in business continuity management by 65%.

Table ( 11 ) Impact Analysis of the Dimensions of Public Relations Tourism in Business Continuity Management

Source: SPSS V.28 Output

Conclusions and Recommendations

First: Conclusions

1. The results of the research confirmed that tourism public relations plays a pivotal role in improving Iraq's tourism image and enhancing communication with the targets, which contributes to business continuity in the sector.
2. The lack of training in the field of tourism public relations among the Authority's employees has been identified , which affects their ability to adequately and professionally manage tourism interactions and benefits.
3. The results indicated that there is a significant opportunity to use social media and modern technology as part of public relations strategies, but it is not adequately exploited.
4. Crisis management proved to be a major challenge, with many employees demonstrating a lack of clear direction and an integrated plan to deal with crises when they occurred.
5. Opinions indicated that there is a lack of effective communication channels between the Tourism Authority and the public, which negatively affects the ability to promote tourist destinations and gain the trust of others.

Second: Recommendations

1. The Iraqi Tourism Authority should develop integrated public relations strategies that include enhanced communication with the public, the media, and the local community.
2. The sector requires a comprehensive crisis management plan that includes proactive strategies to deal with any crises that may affect tourism, and fosters the capacity for rapid recovery.
3. It is essential to promote the effective use of social media as an essential blend in tourism marketing and PR strategies, increasing the reach of tourism messages to a larger audience.
4. The Authority should collaborate with the private sector and civil society organizations to enhance tourism public relations efforts and increase support for tourist destinations.
5. Periodic evaluations of tourism PR strategies should be conducted to determine their effectiveness, and plans should be adjusted according to changes in the tourism environment and market demands.