KINGSTON, Jamaica — The implementation of a four-point action plan will be undertaken by the leadership of the Global Resilience and Crisis Management Centre over the next few weeks, in the lead-up to its official launch at the Montego Bay Convention Centre on January 30, 2019.

Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett disclosed that following a board meeting of the resilience centre in London, England, on November 4, an agreement was reached for the creation of a Global Resilience and Crisis Management journal.

It will consist of contributions from published academics on seismic, and hyper -meteorological disruptions such as earthquakes, floods, droughts and hurricanes.

“Secondly (there will be) the creation of a blueprint for resilience building (which) will be a compendium of best practices that we gleaned from all over the world, which will be made available to particularly small and vulnerable states,” the minister said.

“Thirdly, is the establishment of a resilience barometer, which will be a measurement system for resilience, so that countries of the world can measure their own preparedness and readiness not just to respond to disruptions but to build better and to be able to thrive after. This will be a very important development because it will create an index of value…guests and tourists will feel far more comfortable,” he added.

Bartlett was addressing a press conference to provide updates on the launch of the centre, at the Tourism Ministry’s New Kingston offices on Thursday.

The fourth point of the plan is the appointment of a chairperson for the centre with responsibilities for innovation and resilience.

First announced in November 2017, during the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Global Conference on Sustainable Development, the centre, which is the first of its kind, will be tasked with creating, producing and generating toolkits, guidelines and policies to handle the recovery process following a disaster.

Based at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies, the facility will include a Sustainable Tourism Observatory, which will assist with preparedness, management and recovery from disruptions and/or crises that impact tourism and threaten economies and livelihoods.

Meanwhile, Bartlett reiterated that significant global interest and support have been expressed in the development of the centre “where resources and talent have been made available to us”.

Among the interest groups are: the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea; the International Tourism Investment Conference, which operates out of Mauritius; the Pacific Area Tourism Authority (PATA); and the United Arab Emirates, which agreed to provide technical support for the centre.

“Out of Europe we have the Global Resilience Council that has now partnered with us, and then we have the UNWTO, the World Travel and Tourism Council, Caribbean Tourism Organization and the Caribbean Hotel and Tourist Association. All these are critical global tourism constructs which have now become part of the (centre)…it is hugely resourced from across the world,” he added.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has also committed its support to the centre, with the agency’s Country Leader visiting in another week and a half to tour the site at UWI.