Regional tourism resilience training institute to be launched in Jamaica

The first ever global tourism resilience institute will be launched in Jamaica following the hosting of a three-day Global Tourism Resilience conference at the University of the West Indies Mona.

In a press release announcing the conference, Executive Director of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC), Lloyd Waller said: “We are in the process of establishing an institute to focus on resilience and not just tourism resilience.

"We will be offering short certificate courses, diploma courses as well as an Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) to provide persons with the skills and knowledge, in terms of methodologies for being resilient.”

Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett added that resilience has become high-level priority for national economies globally as the world recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his statement, he noted that tourism has long proven to be a resilient segment of national economies in the Caribbean.

But, in recent times, it has demonstrated fragility to unexpected, disruptive events.

“Such disruptive events include natural disasters, climate change impacts and bio-diversity loss, food insecurity, political instability and conflicts, the threat of terror attacks, cyber-crime and cyber security issues, economic recessions and indeed epidemics and pandemics, as exemplified by the current crisis,” Bartlett explained.

These disruptive events, he added, can have severe impact on perceptions of destination attractiveness and security.

The Global Tourism Resilience conference takes place from February 15- 17, and will be headlined by Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Andrew Holness.

Holness is expected to deliver his speech to an audience of high-level, international travel stakeholders, government ministers, and global business leaders.

A proposal has also been drafted for Jamaica to pioneer the observance of Global Tourism Resilience Day on February 17.