The need for the creation of a global tourism resilience initiative 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 United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the Government of Jamaica, the World Bank Group and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

We have continued the charge in developing this much-needed initiative in the form of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre.

The ultimate goal of the Centre is to assist destination preparedness, management and recovery from disruptions and/or crises that affect tourism and threaten economies and livelihoods globally.

It will specifically be tasked with creating, producing and generating toolkits, guidelines and policies to assist with preparatory and recovery efforts of tourism stakeholders affected by climatic, pandemic, cyber-crime and cyber-terrorism related disruptions.

This Centre is of particular importance in the region, because of the vulnerability of the Caribbean to climatic and other disruptions. This is primarily because our tourism industries in the region are dependent on a number of infrastructure such as airports and hotels, so structural integrity is important.

We must therefore use every opportunity and capacity to anticipate what will be happening by tracking these disruptions, managing the process when they arrive, and recovering not just in real time, but in Nano time, so as to ensure the stability of the region.

The Centre is housed at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus but will have a global impact thanks to our partners and board members from every continent across the world. As Minister of Tourism of Jamaica, I am filled with great pride for the world’s confidence in us and for the support of this very important institution in the industry.

I am particularly grateful to the UWI for allowing us the use of the space and more so to enable us to make it the kind of facility that we can be happy to welcome the world to participate here in great things and other kinds of cerebral activities. This partnership will give Jamaica, the Caribbean and the world a new opportunity to understand global disruptions.

I have no doubt that this Centre will be very successful and I look forward to seeing the impact it will have on the region and countries across the Globe.  ”