Global Tourism Resilience Day to take place 17 February

The first-ever Global Tourism Resilience Day will be launched at Expo 2020 Dubai 

Global Tourism Resilience Day is set to be launched at Expo 2020 Dubai by Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism and co-chair of Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC), Edmund Bartlett.

The launch of Global Tourism Resilience Day coincides with Jamaica Day on 17 February.

Keynote Speakers
During the Global Tourism Resilience Day launch event, international and regional guest speakers will share key information on investment that leads to resilience.

Case studies will be highlighted by speakers including the Most Honourable Andrew Holness, Prime Minister of Jamaica; the Honourable Uhuru Kenyatta, President of Kenya; Minister Reyes Morato of Spain; Minister Al Fayez of Jordan; Adam Stewart, Executive Chairman of Sandals Resorts International and Julia Simpson, CEO of the World Travel and Tourism Council, along with many others

Location
Taking place in the DP Pavillion, the event starts at 1pm local time and ends at 5:30pm.

Expo 2020 Dubai has received more than 10 million visitors to date and has 108 countries represented across its pavilions.

GTRCMC and Resilience Council co-chair, Dr Taleb Rifai said: “In this regard, Expo 2020 Dubai offers a perfect space to showcase our work and build global partnerships with key decision-makers continuing our mission to provide guidance to global, regional and national tourism stakeholders.”

Interested parties can also attend the event virtually.

Theme 
The theme for the inaugural Global Tourism Resilience Day forum is: Harnessing the Path to Recovery through Resilience and Investment. It will highlight the inherent links between tourism resilience and regeneration.

The travel industry is fragmented – 90% are SMEs (small and medium enterprises) and studies show that the majority are not prepared to respond to crises. Destinations must lead. The GTRCMC is tackling this issue by launching this annual tribute to resilience.

Global Tourism Resilience Day will bring the need for the travel industry to focus on preparedness, crisis management, recovery and on-going resilience to the fore

Coupled with the launch of the Global Tourism Resilience Day, the centre has partnered with the Global Travel and Tourism Resilience Council and the International Tourism Investment Corp to provide an in-depth forum on resilience and how to prepare, plan and ensure travel entities minimise the impact of crises and rebound and recover quicker.

Minister Bartlett said: “The focus will be on the ability of countries to build capacity to respond to international shocks and to be able to predict with greater certainty their responses. It will also aid countries in understanding and mitigating the effects of these shocks on their development, but most importantly, it will help them manage and recover quickly afterwards,”

The global tourism industry was  generally described as ‘resilient’ because the accumulated wisdom from past experiences indicated that the sector bounced back quickly after a crisis.  However, Minister Bartlett noted that over the past two years, the pandemic has tested this presumed industry resilience more than any previous disruptive event in modern history.

“The pandemic has forced all destinations, irrespective of size, location and attributes, into survival mode,” said Minister Bartlett

“It has also heightened consciousness. The industry cannot afford to be taken off-guard again. Destinations need to build the skills and knowledge for anticipating, preparing, responding, managing and learning from all disruptive events to ensure they are ready for the next event,” added Minister Bartlett.

For more information or to attend, email laurie.myers@jacobsmediagroup.com or visit gtrcmc.org