The GTRCMC in Jamaica was created by Minister Bartlett of Jamaica in response to the urgent need he bore witness to during the 2016 Resilience Council Summit. Launched as the International Travel Crisis Management Summit, now the Resilience Council, the agenda highlighted the inability of the travel and tourism to rebound rapidly and effectively from crises. Speakers detailed the lack of crisis management planning and the need to share ideas to improve preparedness and resilience. In 2017, Minister Bartlett opened the first Centre in Jamaica in conjunction with the University of the West Indies. In 2019, the second Centre was opened in Kenya in conjunction with Kenyatta University. The Resilience Council supports the activities of the Centres through knowledge sharing, networking, data exchange, global media coverage and marketing.