GTRCM Helps Out The Bahamas

Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett presented US$50,000 to the Director General of the Bahamas Tourism and Aviation Ministry, Mrs. Joy Jibrilu at the second Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCM) Board of Governors Meeting in London this week.

The money, forms part of the overall relief fund established by the GTRCM to support tourism-ravaged economies impacted by disruptions such as natural disasters and pandemics.

Hurricane Dorian, a Category 5 storm, hit the Bahamas last month as one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes to make landfall. The storm caused widespread flooding and destruction.

“This donation symbolizes the Centre’s commitment to assisting tourism dependent states that are vulnerable to disruptions to recover and rebound. Two islands of the Bahamas suffered much damage from the passage of hurricane Dorian and still needs support to rebuild and this contribution will go towards that,” said Minister Bartlett.

In collaboration with the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA), the GTRCM is providing US$100,000 in support of the tourism ravaged economies of the Bahamas and other areas in the Caribbean that may be impacted in the future. The JHTA has contributed US$20,000 to assist in relief efforts through the United Nations World Tourism Organization and the GTRCM.

In accepting the donation, Director General, Jibrilu said “On behalf of the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation and Government of the Bahamas, I am pleased to accept this contribution which will help with our recovery and rebuilding efforts. This show of support is deeply appreciated and shows the importance of collaboration on issues of disaster and crisis management.”

The fund will also go towards the commissioning of a baseline study to assess the vulnerabilities of the Caribbean to major disruptions such as hurricanes, pandemics and epidemics and building capacity to deal with them.

“Global trends show that given the dynamic and devastating nature of these disruptions, building resilience to predict, manage and recover from these disruptions has become even more critical and that is what the GTRCM has been established to do,” added Minister Bartlett.

The Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre’s mission includes assisting global tourism destinations with destination preparedness, management and recovery from disruptions and/or crises that affect tourism and threaten economies and livelihoods globally.

In the photo

Minister of Tourism and Co-Chair of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCM), Hon Edmund Bartlett (4th L) and Dr. Taleb Rifai, Co-Chair of the GTRCM and former Secretary General of the UNWTO (2nd R), hand over US$50 thousand for relief efforts to Director General of the Ministry of Tourism and Aviation of the Bahamas (C). Sharing in the moment from (l-R) are GTRCM Board Members, Daniela Wagner, Head of International Partnerships at Jacobs Media Group, Mario Hardy, Chief Executive Officer of the Pacific Asia Travel Association, DHO Young-shim, Chair UN SDGs Advocate Alumni and Elena Kountoura, former Minister of Tourism for Greece; along with Executive Director of the GTRCM, Professor Waller (2rd L) and Ibrahim Ayoub, Group CEO of Daiichi (R).