Tourism disaster management literature is replete with models of both short and long-term strategies for destination recovery after disasters. Firm-level analysis dominated earlier work, which emphasized the effective collaboration of industry stakeholders with the government's emergency management units. With the rising incidence and severity of natural disasters attributed to climate change, context-specific models that treat tourism as socio-ecological systems provide a better understanding of how tourist destinations recover and build resilience to the onslaught of extreme weather conditions. The qualitative study draws insights from several case studies: Bohol after the 7.2 magnitude earthquake and Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, Bali Indonesia after the Bali bombings in 2002 and 2005, Andaman Coast in Thailand, and Arugam Bay in Sri Lanka after the 2004 tsunami. The study developed a framework of analysis using resilience research models and adapted it to tourism settings to draw lessons from actual tourism recovery stages. The study found that while the tourism industry of a destination recovers, part of the system remains vulnerable to disasters. To build resilience, destinations need to strengthen their adaptive capacities in economic development, social capital, and information and communications. The study sought to contribute to the limited research on resilience building in tourist destinations.