KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett says resilience building within the Caribbean region is needed now more than ever, given the increase in disruptions such as hurricanes and earthquakes.

The minister’s comment comes on the heels of the 7.3 magnitude earthquake that struck near Yaguaraparo, off the north-eastern coast of Venezuela on Tuesday and affected Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago.

“Earthquakes can be unpredictable and devastating and can certainly wipe out an entire industry. We in the Caribbean are particularly vulnerable because our tourism industries are dependent in a number of infrastructure such as airports, hotels so structural integrity is important.

“Also, having the technical know-how is critical. This is what the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre, which will be launch January next year, is about: sensitising the industry about these critical issues, building the capacities of stakeholders in the industry and monitoring these efforts,” Bartlett was quoted in a release from his ministry.

As it relates to hurricanes, last year, the region experienced devastation caused by two category 5 hurricanes, Irma and Maria. In fact, economic losses exceeded US$100 billion, with GDP losses ranging from 10 per cent to 224 per cent in the case of Dominica, the ministry said.

“We are relieved that there are currently no indications of casualties but recognize that we need to as a region step up our efforts to be better prepared for these disasters. As part of my ministry’s plans to build resilience, we will host the Inaugural Tourism Resilience Summit of the Americas under the theme, Tourism Resilience through Global Synergies, on September 13.

“This is being done in collaboration with the University of the West Indies, Mona and will address the challenges of climate change; pandemics and epidemics; cybercrime and cyberterrorism which are affecting the tourism space globally,” said Bartlett.

The Resilience Summit of the Americas will be the first of four such events and promises to provide a space for addressing these issues as well as the development of a global policy framework for tourism resilience. The summit also will provide an opportunity for participants to forge partnerships towards building global synergies, according to the ministry.

Among the presenters will be representatives from Miyamoto International, a global technical leader in urban disaster risk mitigation and management that specialises in earthquake and structural engineering; project management and construction management, with 19 offices in 12 countries.