Global Tourism Resilience Day Conference provides a platform and forum for international cooperation

BY PAUL JUNOR

On Friday, February 16^th, 2024, the second Global Tourism Resilience Day Conference was held at the Montego Bay Conference Centre to discuss the theme “Navigating the Future of Tourism Conference.” It was held under the auspices of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC), which was established in 2018 by the Honourable Edmund Bartlett, Minister of Tourism for Jamaica. The Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre is committed to addressing the critical issues facing tourism worldwide, and through cutting-edge: research, strategic partnerships, and targeted initiatives, the GTRCMC strives to build a more resilient and sustainable future for global tourism.

The program booklet featured a message by Professor Lloyd Waller, Executive Director of the GTRCMC. He provides leadership to the global think tank to enhance resilience in climate tourism, entrepreneurial tourism, tourism security, and tourism pandemic management. He highlights the importance of the world’s largest industry and its susceptibility to factors such as: pandemics, natural disasters and changes. He states, “In the wake of the post-COVID-19 world, we stand at the threshold of a new era in global tourism.”

He points out that while the pandemic presents challenges, it also creates opportunities to build a framework for resilience that draws on: science, technology, innovation, and global collaboration. He affirms that the GTRCMC stands at the forefront of these efforts: coordinating global initiatives and coordinating global initiatives to enhance the tourism industry capacity to: anticipate, manage, and recover from disruptions. In his opening address to the audience, he emphasizes the importance of tourism resilience as enabling varied stakeholders to adjust to unforeseen challenges and complex dynamic factors.

Dr. Stacey Kennedy (Regional Manager for the Caribbean Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean) talks about the importance of being the title sponsor at a multilateral development bank. She states, “It is the main source of foreign currency hiring approximately 27% of people with 26 million being hired regionally and up to 60% of these hires being women in Latin America and Caribbean.”

Honourable Edmund Bartlett notes in the program booklet, “The need for the creation of the global tourism resilience was one of the major outcomes of the Global Conference on Jobs and Inclusive Growth: Partnerships for Sustainable Tourism under the esteemed partnership of: the UNWTO, the Government of Canada, the World Bank Group and the Inter-American Development Bank. The ultimate goal of the GTRCMC is to assist destination preparedness, management and recovery from disruptions and/or crises that affect tourism and threaten economies and livelihoods globally. It will be specifically tasked with creating, producing and generating toolkits, guidelines and policies to assist with preparation and recovery efforts of tourism stakeholders affected by: climatic, pandemic, cyber-crime and cyber-terrorism related disruptions.”

Minister Bartlett in his address highlighted the importance of tourism as a catalyst of economic activities. “It is a confluence of many moving parts. It is one of the fastest ways to transfer wealth. It adds value and gives essence to people.” He states further that it has extractive value and, “Anyone, or everyone can benefit from tourism activities. Tourism is the most resilient industry. It bounces back faster than any other.”

H.E. Zurab Pololikashvili (Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization) gave the keynote address. He mentioned that “Jamaica has one of the best education centers in the world (referring to the GTRCMC). It has played a vital role in the tourism ecosystem. It shows the interconnection between people, planet, prosperity and peace.”

There are high hopes and great expectations that by: creatively and strategically utilizing digital transformations, developing resilient tourist infrastructures, empowering female leaders, and learning about international tourism resilience, financing the industry will be better served.