Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartett has held discussions in Kenya on the establishment of a Satellite Centre for the Mona-based Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC) at Kenyatta University.

According to a release from his travelling team which accompanied Prime Minister Andrew Holness to Kenya earlier this week, the Satellite Centre will focus on regional issues, and will share information in “Nano” time (the most precise system timer) with the Centre. It will then function as a think tank to develop possible solutions.

“I am very excited that we are very close to opening the first satellite centre for the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre in Kenya. We will head to Kathmandu in Nepal on January 1 to launch the second one. There are also a number of others, which will be launched in 2020,” Bartett told a meeting yesterday with Kenyan officials, at the offices of the Minister of Tourism and Wildlife Najib Balala.

Kenyatta University will collaborate with The University of the West Indies (UWI) and, by extension, the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre at Mona which is tasked with assessing, forecasting, mitigating and managing risks related to tourism resilience caused by various disruptive factors.

The universities are then expected to sign a memorandum of understanding  (MOU), which includes the facilitation of a strategic partnership as it relates to research and development; policy advocacy and communication management; programme/project design and management and training and capacity building.

Balala expressed excitement at the opportunity to collaborate with the GTRCMC in Jamaica, as he believes the agreement will be mutually beneficial to both nations.

He also shared that he would “hold theuniversity’s hand” and try to find ways on how it can help resolve the issues such as funding and implementation.

“They are beyond the tragedies; some of them are beneficial to us, not just as a country but also as a ministry.”

Executive director of the GTRCMC, Professor Lloyd Waller, said that the establishment of the Satellite Centres will help to create a type of global think tank connected through digital technologies which will be able to share information, collaborate and resolve critical issues through a network of global experts.”

Bartlett will also hold bilateral talks with Balala, who is chairman of the UNWTO Executive Council, in his capacity as chair of the Commission of the Americas, regarding the Global Summit on Innovation Resilience and Crisis Management scheduled to be hosted by Jamaica on May 21-23 in 2020. Jamaica will also host the 65th Regional meeting of the Americas.

Bartlett is also in Kenya on official duties with Prime Minister Andrew Holness and other government officials. In this capacity, he will attend the 9th ACP Summit of Heads of State and Government, along with the prime minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Kamina Johnson Smith.

The summit will look into ways of reducing, preventing and overcoming terrorism and insecurity to enhance development while also taking into consideration socio-economic and cultural issues.

He will also meet with a group of private sector investors interested in Jamaica’s tourism product at a formal dinner hosted by Minister Balala on Tuesday night in Nairobi.

Bartlett was expected to return to the island late yesterday (December 12).