The Caribbean is the most tourism-dependent region in the world. It is the single largest generator of foreign exchange and employment in many countries in the region.
What is the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre?
The Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC) will be established in Jamaica to deal with climate-related issues. It is aimed at assessing, forecasting, mitigating and managing risks related to tourism resilience, caused by various disruptive factors. These disruptions may include climate change and natural disasters, cybercrime, cybersecurity, pandemics, terrorism, war, population and the changing funding models. The facility will include a Sustainable Tourism Observatory.
What will the Centre do?
The Centre is tasked with creating, producing and generating toolkits, guidelines and policies to handle the recovery process following a disaster. It will also assist with preparedness, management and recovery from disruptions and/or crises that impact tourism and threaten economies and livelihoods
Where is the Centre located?
The Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre is based at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies.
Who are the partners?
According to the Minister of Tourism, there are ‘ partners on every continent”
Partners include the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO); World Travel and Tourism Council; Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association; Caribbean Tourism Organisation; and the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA).
Partnerships are being explored with universities, and other players within the airline and cruise sectors.
When will the Centre open?
The Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre is expected to be fully operational by September 2019.
Source: JIS