Prime Minister Andrew Holness will deliver the keynote address at the Global Tourism Resilience Conference next month.

The conference is being held from February 15 to 17 at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Regional Headquarters in Kingston, Jamaica.

Holness will address a slew of government ministers from several nation states, policy advisors, international travel stakeholders, academics, executives of several international organisations, international business leaders among other key stakeholders.

Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett in highlighting the significance of the conference noted that: “As we exit the COVID-19 pandemic ‘tourism resilience’ has become the epicentre of national development priorities. While travel and tourism have been traditionally considered one of the most resilient segments of the global economy, it has also proven to be simultaneously and disproportionately prone to shocks, due to the impact of disruptive events on perceptions of destination attractiveness and security.”

He added: “Such disruptive events include natural disasters, climate change impacts and bio-diversity loss, food insecurity, political instability and conflicts, the threat of terror attacks, cyber-crime and cyber security issues, economic recessions and indeed epidemics and pandemics, as exemplified by the current crisis.”

The Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC), which is in part piloting the conference, continues to work on building tourism resilience in the Americas, Africa and the Middle East. Through their work in these areas, they have recognised the need to consolidate learnings and build tourism resilience strategies to prepare for the next disruption to the travel and tourism space.

Bartlett noted that Jamaica will once again prove itself a pioneer when it launches the first ever Global Tourism Resilience Institute in February. The Institute’s launch will coincide with the observance of Global Tourism Resilience Day on February 17.

Executive Director of the GTRCMC, Professor Lloyd Waller, indicated that the Institute will provide several offerings.

“We are in the process of establishing an Institute to focus on resilience and not just tourism resilience. We will be offering short certificate courses, diploma courses as well as an Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) to provide persons with the skills and knowledge, in terms of methodologies for being resilient,” he stated.