On February 17, 2022, Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism and Co-Chair of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre, Edmund Bartlett, launched the first-ever Global Tourism Resilience Day at The Global Tourism Resilience Forum, during the National Jamaica Week at Expo 2020 Dubai. The Global Tourism Resilience Day will be celebrated every year starting February 17, 2023.

At the Forum, diplomats and world leaders shared their views on resilient and responsible tourism practises, outlined strategies for the tourism sector’s post-pandemic recovery, and made a shared commitment towards planning and preparing for a brighter future for the industry. The disruption caused by the pandemic deeply impacted the sector, and this Forum marked an important milestone in kick starting the process of setting guidelines for building a more sustainable and stable tourism economy.

Minister of Tourism for Kenya, Najib Balala, set the agenda for the global tourism landscape moving forward, “This is a time to re-think and come up with a transformative strategy that will sustain the desired recovery of the tourism industry. Key elements of that strategy would include promotion of digital transition, adoption of a greener tourism system, and rethinking of the domestic tourism [sic] as a springboard for the international tourism component. . . . This crisis has revealed gaps in both the government and the industry preparedness and response capacity. . . . the future of the tourism industry is closely linked to [the] climate change crisis. . . . Sustainable and resilient tourism therefore should harmonise with the environment. Hence, reduction of carbon emission, limit global warming to one and a half degrees, promote the safeguarding of our cultural and natural heritage, protect livelihoods, benefit local communities and respond to the changing expectations that I imagine from sustainable behaviours being adopted by both businesses and consumers.”

Minister Edmund Bartlett highlighted the importance of establishing 17 February as the Global Tourism Resilience Day, “The pandemic has highlighted societal weaknesses, which show themselves vibrantly within the travel sector. We are here to not only raise the global consciousness about resilience, but to bring forth actions that demonstrate what can be done and is being done to prepare to be resilient. . . . Today, therefore, in attempting to declare the World Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Day, we want to focus on capacity building, primarily for small, highly tourism-dependent nations that are vulnerable to many disruptions, but are weakly resourced to respond effectively to it. . . . Let us use this day, 17th of February 2022 . . . to make that statement that the world will now have a chance to predict, mitigate, manage, recover, and recover quickly, and then thrive after disruptions.”

At the launch, Minister Bartlett declared, “Having heard from the presenters at the forum regarding best practises, case studies and preparedness, investment strategies driven by resilience, and the power of action by women, the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre has agreed that . . . we strongly recommend a special day for tourism resilience to be observed worldwide. February 17 has been identified as the proposed day, and should be called Global Tourism Resilience Day, beginning today. ”