WTM: Tourism Resilience Center Gets Set for Big Break

The Global Tourism Resilience & Crisis Management Center has announced recent developments regarding the launching of the newly established Tourism Resilience Center in Kingston, Jamaica.

The inaugural board meeting took place ahead of World Travel Market in London. The GTRC is also working to finalize the structure and formation of the center’s board of directors.

The mission of the Global Tourism Resilience & Crisis Management Center is to carry out policy-relevant research and analysis on destination preparedness, management and recovery from disruptions or crises that impact tourism and threaten economies and livelihoods globally.

The Center, which will be sited at the UWI Mona Campus, will be formally launched during the Caribbean Marketplace Expo in Montego Bay, in January.

The temporary chairman of the board is former United Nations World Tourism Organization secretary general Taleb Rifai. Jamaica’s minister of tourism, Edmund Bartlett, will serve as co-chair.

Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, the president of Malta, has given her full support of center, with further discussions of her role as honorary president of the center held last month.

Additionally, sultan Bin Salman, president of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, a man who commands tremendous respect from the International tourism community has pledged his commitment to fully support the Center.

While not being able himself to join the board, due to time constraints, he is to name a representative from the commission to the center’s board.

Other Board members of the center include Mario Hardy, chief executive of the Pacific Asia Travel Association, Brett Tollman, chief executive of the Travel Corporation, and Earl Jarret, chief executive of the Jamaica National Group.