Despite growing interest in tourism crisis and disaster management, what mechanisms trigger organisatsions’ dynamic capabilities to achieve faster response and recovery from disasters are not well-understood. This paper draws from the strategic management literature to discuss the development of dynamic capabilities in tourism organisations for crisis and disaster management. This paper contributes to tourism literature by identifying key antecedents and barriers to building dynamic capabilities for tourism organisations. Findings are drawn from analysis of secondary data and 20 in-depth interviews with local tourism organisations and government authorities/industry associations that were directly impacted by Cyclone Debbie in Northern Queensland Australia. Findings from this research can help understand how different types of tourism organisations can understand their enables and limitations in building their dynamic capabilities for disaster management.