Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett (seated) is pictured following a tour of the Kenyatta University and the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC) - East Africa, located in Nairobi, Kenya yesterday (July 15). The entity is the satellite center of the Jamaican based GTRCMC, located at the University of the West Indies, Mona. Sharing in the moment are (L-R) Vice Chancellor of Kenyatta University, Professor Paul Wainaina; Dr. Esther Munyiri, Director, GTRCMC- East Africa; Mr. Joseph Boinnet, Chief Administrative Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, Kenya; Ms. Anna-Kay Newell, Director of International Relations, GTRCMC - Jamaica and Mr. Robert Kamiti, Chief Tourism Officer, Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, Kenya. Minister Bartlett is currently in Kenya to participate in the highly-anticipated Tourism Recovery Summit for African Ministers of Tourism, to be held in Nairobi, today. Minister Bartlett was invited to speak at the summit in his capacity as a well-respected global thought leader on tourism resilience and recovery.
Jamaica Minister of Tourism and Co-Chair of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC), Hon. Edmund Bartlett, and Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, and Chairman of the GTRCMC – Eastern Africa, Hon. Najib Balala today (July 16) signed a ground-breaking memorandum of understanding (MOU) that will pave the way for the two Centres to work together to develop policy and conduct relevant research on destination preparedness, management and recovery.
Minister Bartlett lauded the MOU signing, as “a huge leap for policy research.”
This will allow these two Centers to collaborate in forecasting, mitigating, and managing risks related to tourism resilience caused by various disruptive factors.
This is particularly relevant as we navigate and respond to the challenges brought by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The signing took place during the Tourism Recovery Summit for African Ministers of Tourism currently underway in Nairobi, Kenya, where Minister Bartlett was invited to speak in his capacity as a well-respected global thought leader on tourism resilience and recovery.
Minister Bartlett lauded the MOU signing, as “a huge leap for policy research. It will allow these two Centers to collaborate in forecasting, mitigating and managing risks related to tourism resilience caused by various disruptive factors. This is truly an exciting opportunity.” The GTRCMC – East Africa at Kenyatta University, is a regional satellite center of the international GTRCMC, located at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Jamaica.
“This is particularly relevant as we navigate and respond to the challenges brought on by the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic. We must be at the forefront of coordinating responses, surveillance and monitoring, and organizing economic relief efforts within and across borders. Collaborations such as this are both critical and timely,” the Minister said.
Following the MOU signing, Hon. Najib Balala presented a cheque for Ksh 10 million (US$ 100,000) to Minister Bartlett to support activities at the East Africa Centre.
The MOU will facilitate a strategic partnership as it relates to Research and Development; Policy Advocacy and Communication Management; Program/Project Design and Management and Training and Capacity Building, specific to climate change and disaster management; security and cyber-security management; entrepreneurial management; and pandemic and epidemic management.
This will be done through programs or undertakings such as:
Linda Hohnholz has been writing and editing articles since the start of her working career. She has applied this innate passion to such places as Hawaii Pacific University, Chaminade University, the Hawaii Children's Discovery Center, and now TravelNewsGroup.