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Conference Title: Tourism Resilience Seminar and Workshop
Date:February 7-8, 2024
Organized by JICA and the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Center (GTRCMC)
Location: Kingston, Jamaica
Main Participants
Edmund Bartlett, Minister of Tourism, Ministry of Tourism, Jamaica
Prof. Lloyd Waller, Executive Director, World Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Center
Masato Takamatsu (President, Tourism Resilience Institute)
Key stakeholders and international organizations (CARICOM, CTO, CDEMA, UN Tourism) in the tourism industry and government agencies in Barbados, Belize, Dominican Republic, Guyana, St. Kitts & Nevis, Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, and Japan
Mitsuyoshi Kawasaki, Branch Director, and Ai Kurimoto, Planning and Research Fellow, JICA Jamaica
Naoki Matsumura, Special Assistant (JICA Global Environment Department), Tomomi Sato (JICA Economic Development Department)
Background and Objectives
While the Caribbean is dependent on tourism, it is also known as one of the most vulnerable regions to natural disasters and climate change. By sharing its experience and knowledge of disaster risk management in the tourism sector, Japan will contribute to improving the tourism risk management capacity in the Caribbean, which has been hit by many natural disasters in the same way as the Caribbean region.
The Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Center (GTRCMC) is an organization established at the University of the West Indies (UWI) in 2018 with the objective of playing a central role in disseminating crisis management practices in the tourism industry in the Caribbean region.JICA has been requested by the Government of Jamaica to provide technical assistance in 2022 The JICA is implementing a two-year training project with the aim of strengthening collaboration in tourism crisis management among Caribbean countries.
Group photo of workshop participants
Contents
The workshop participants, led by Mr. Takamatsu, jointly analyzed the potential impact of disasters on tourists and tourism businesses, developed a plan of action, and discussed how to ensure the safety of visitors and continue tourism businesses. The two-day program provided participants with practical knowledge to develop their own country-specific or agency-specific strategies for tourism resilience.
Workshop (center: Mr. Takamatsu, President of the Tourism Resilience Institute)
Workshops
The results of the seminar and workshop were presented to UN Tourism and other stakeholders at the Global Tourism Resilience Day Conference held on February 16-17, and will be used in the training program scheduled for next year.
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