The Spontaneous Volunteer Who Became the People’s Hero.

Australia, a land with a long history of natural disasters, has witnessed the resilience of its small to medium businesses, particularly those in the hospitality and tourism sectors, in the face of devastating consequences. Historically, many smaller tourism and hospitality businesses have not been proactive in preparing for disasters. However, in small regional areas, external and government agencies are often overstretched, under-resourced, and bound by bureaucratic rules and regulations. In these challenging situations, the burden of help often falls on the shoulders of community-spirited individuals or small groups of people who offer assistance during and/or after the disaster event. These unsung heroes, generally unaffiliated with any part of the existing official emergency management response and recovery system, are referred to as spontaneous volunteers. This case uses empirical data from interviews with Mathew, a prominent entrepreneur who relied on income from tourism and hospitality activities in a small regional tourism destination in Australia that experienced a bushfire disaster. The case applies a storytelling approach to explore “how” and “why” the stakeholder became a spontaneous volunteer, enabling students to apply theoretical concepts and practices in the field of disaster management and recovery, specifically in relation to the role of spontaneous volunteerism. The case also sheds light on the tourism and hospitality operators’ potential to support disaster-affected communities during and after disaster events which is demonstrated by showcasing the entrepreneurs’ evolution to being spontaneous volunteers.