The first ever Global Tourism Resilience Day is set to be launched at Expo 2020 Dubai by Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, and Co-Chair of his brainchild the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre. As the destination prepares to mark Jamaica Day on February 17, it will also launch Global Tourism Resilience Day.
The travel industry is and always has been fragmented, 90% are SMEs and studies show that the majority are not prepared to respond to crises. Destinations must lead. The GTRCMC is tackling that concern in a big way. By launching an annual tribute to resilience and naming a day as such the Centre is bringing the need for the travel industry to focus on preparedness, crisis management, recovery and on-going resilience to the fore. Coupled with the launch of the Day, the Centre has partnered with the Global Travel and Tourism Resilience Council and the International Tourism Investment Corp. to provide an in-depth Forum on resilience. How to prepare, plan and ensure travel entities minimize the impact of crises and thus can rebound and recover quicker. The day will stress the need to implement, not talk.
“The focus will be on the ability of countries to build capacity to respond to international shocks and to be able to predict with greater certainty their responses. It will also aid countries in understanding and mitigating the effects of these shocks on their development, but most importantly, it will help them manage and recover quickly afterwards,” Minister Bartlett explained.
The global tourism industry was generally described as ‘resilient’ because the accumulated wisdom from past experiences indicated that the sector bounced back quickly after a crisis. However, Minister Bartlett noted that, “Over the past two years, the pandemic has tested this presumed industry resilience more than any previous disruptive event in modern history. It has forced all destinations, irrespective of size, location and attributes, into survival mode.”
“It has also heightened consciousness, the industry cannot afford to be taken off-guard again. Instead, it is called upon to urgently adopt a methodological, collaborative and institutional approach towards resilience. Destinations need to build the skills and knowledge for anticipating, preparing, responding, managing and learning from all disruptive events to ensure they are ready for the next event,” he added.
