Tourism resilience centre to drive sector’s recovery post-COVID-19

Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett says the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCM) will be charged with driving the recovery of tourism in Jamaica and elsewhere in the region post-COVID-19.

Bartlett noted that, “while nobody knew that a pandemic like no one has ever seen would bring global tourism to a virtual standstill, the GTRCM, fortunately, was created to deal with recovery and in whatever form”.

“When world leaders, legislators, and academics from around the world convened in Montego Bay last year January to commemorate the opening of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre, we were thinking about the possibility of hurricanes, earthquakes, flooding, and other disasters that we have experienced in the past ... nothing like the coronavirus.

“While we were cognisant that there could be pandemics and other threatening diseases, nobody could have foreseen anything of this magnitude where an invisible enemy ... a phantom, basically ... would emerge that would close borders, shut down airports and seaports, close hotels, essentially shutting down travel, and having everybody retreat to the confines of their homes,” he pointed out.

ROAD MAP FOR RESTORATION

The tourism minister said that it is incumbent on countries to have a strategy for recovery in place so as to be ready to get the industry rolling again when things return to normal.

“This is where the GTRCM will come into play, serving as a reference point for information, communication, and research on best practices in tourism recovery, which will effectively provide the road map on where we need to go to get back on our feet,” the minister said.

He said that the facility will liaise with various stakeholders to promote resilience and build human capacity “so that growth can be recovered in the fastest possible time”.

Minister Bartlett, in noting the sector’s resilience, said “of all the major industries globally, none face greater exposure to disruptions as the tourism industry, which has proven again and again that it has the greatest capacity for recovery”.

GTRCM, which is based out of The University of the West Indies, Mona campus, is a tourism resource centre dedicated to conducting policy-relevant research and analysis on destination preparedness, management, and recovery resulting from disruptions and crises that impact tourism and threaten economies and livelihoods.

It involves collaboration with domestic and international policymakers and practitioners at all levels of government, private and non-profit sectors, and academia.

Minister Bartlett said that the facility will be even more committed to making Jamaica and the Caribbean among the safest destinations in the world.

“We will continue to focus on four core areas of challenge – climate change and disaster management, security and cybersecurity, entrepreneurial management and data analytics, and pandemic and epidemic management,” he said.