Nuestra NEBRIJA 31 - octubre 2019

46 Article On September 15, 2008, the investment bank Lehman Brothers stars in the largest bankruptcy in history, pushing the global financial sector to the most brutal crisis in our history. On November 28, 2001, Enron, the world's largest oil company and fifth company on the Forbes 500 list, went bankrupt, which in less than a year dragged Arthur Andersen down, one of the largest professional services firms. On December 13, 1991, the iconic PanAm airline goes bankrupt, leaving thousands of passengers stranded at the boarding gate. The history of business in the last 30 years is full of corporate earthquakes that shocked public opinion and caused serious economic damage to thousands of suppliers, customers, lenders and shareholders. Recalling it brings to mind certain similarities with what happened days ago to Thomas Cook, and makes us wonder if this time we will know how to apply the lessons learned. Resurfacing from ruin was not easy, and those affected suffered the consequences for years. Sometimes driven by the initiative of new entrepreneurs, other times by the repositioning of those who inherited the market and, sometimes, thanks to the measures adopted by regulators and public managers, the recovery led to new operators, business models and even regulatory frameworks focused on preventing these disasters. However, the tourism sector did not have its own Lehman Brothers. Sometimes because of the excessive confidence in the growth of the tourist O nly serious terrorist attacks or natural disasters have sometimes altered the mood of the sector The tourism sector had not had its own Lehman Brothers. Our tourism entrepreneurs had watched these crises from the sidelines... until now. Tourism now has its Lehman Brothers, so what is next? Francisco Javier Navarro. Director of the Master’s Degree in Tourism Business and Destinations of Nebrija University