Bartlett declares First Resilience Centre board of governors meeting a success

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett says the first board of governors and associates meeting for the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre, held at the Chesterfield Hotel in London, England yesterday, was a huge success.

It lasted for approximately four hours and covered a range of key operational and policy arrangements, concerning the start-up of the centre, scheduled for January 2019.

"We made a number of decisions, which will have to be carried out within the next three months. Firstly, the centre will develop a toolkit for resilience. Secondly, we will develop a major programme for the creation of a barometer, which will measure the level of resilience in countries," said Bartlett.

"This is a game-changer and an innovation that the world has not yet taken on. It provides a unique opportunity for the centre to establish itself as a certification institution, too, that will enable not just the development of indices with regard to resilience, but will also make Jamaica a true centre of reference, for critical resilience development issues."

The tourism minister noted that the meeting was well attended by all the board members, including video-conferencing connections with honorary chairperson of the centre, Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, president of Malta as well as Earl Jarrett, board member and chief executive officer of the Jamaica National Group.

"Another key point which was raised during our meeting was the establishment of a chair, at the University of the West Indies, on innovation and resilience. This chair will be operating through the university system, but will be supported fully and resourced by the centre," said the minister.

The chairperson will be appointed before the end of the year and will be responsible for the overall management of the centre. This person will provide the operational, organisational, and institutional direction of the centre, and will report directly to the board of governors.

The meeting was chaired by former United Nations World Tourism Organization Secretary General, Dr. Taleb Rifai, who has committed to serving as chairman pro tem.

BOARD MEMBERS

Board of governors for the centre include:

- Earl Jarrett, chief executive officer, Jamaica National Group

- Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, vice-chancellor of The University of the West Indies

- Professor Lee Miles, Professor of Crisis and Disaster Management, Bournemouth University

- Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage.

Other board members are:

- Brett Tollman, chief executive officer, The Travel Corporation

- Ambassador Dho Young-shim, chairperson, UNWTO Sustainable Tourism for Eliminating Poverty (ST-EP) Foundation, World Tourism Organization

- Dr Mario Hardy, chief executive officer, Pacific Asia Travel Association

- Ryoichi Matsuyama, president, Japan National Tourism Organization