Yesterday, Rebuilding Travel (rebuilding.travel) announced a cooperation MOU with the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre and appointed its first regional representative for the Balkan region.
The coronavirus has been crippling the travel and tourism industry since March. In May, the entire planet was unable to move and to sustain one of the largest industries in the world that experts associated with numerous organizations and associations which started to organize a response and a way forward.
On April 6, the publisher of TravelNewsGroup, Juergen Steinmetz, asked readers of their publications to come together and start a global discussion and exchange on what the way forward could be to assist the industry out of this crisis.
Yesterday, Jamaica Tourism Minister Hon. Edmund Bartlett and Juergen Steinmetz, founding Chair of rebuilding.travel,ย announced a cooperation with the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre. GTRCM has locations in Jamaica, Nepal, and Kenya.
Also yesterday, rebuilding.travel arranged for its first regional representative for the Balkan region with Aleksandra Gardasevic-Slavuljica based in Montenegro.
Rebuilding.travel was started with additional members joining quickly.
- Dr. Taleb Rifai, former UNWTO Secretary General
- Dr. Peter Tarlow, President of Safer Tourism
- Hon. Edmund Bartlett, Minister of Tourism, Jamaica
- Alain St.Ange, candidate for President, Republic of Seychelles
- Tom Jenkins, CEO, ETOA
- H.E. Jon Najib Balala, Secretary of Tourism, Kenya
- Cuthbert Ncube, Chairman of African Tourism Board
- Vijay Poonoosamy, Q1 Group, Singapore
- Louis D’Amore President, IIPT
- Ambassador Dho Young-shim, South Korea
- HRH Dr. Abdulaziz Bin Nasser Al Asud, Saudi Arabia
- Dhananjay Regmi, Nepal Tourism Board
- Alushca Richie, World Federation of Tourist Guide Associations
- Fabien Clerk, Switzerland Tourism
- Peter Morrison, President, SKAL International
- Maria Blackman, Antigua & Barbuda Tourism Authority
- Frank Haas, Hawaii
Currently, 620 members in 116 countries have joined the discussion, which is complementary to the many good initiatives started by various associations around the world.
So far, this Hawaii-based grassroots initiative has already had 53 virtual events and discussions.
For more information, along with a form to join without charge, go to www.rebuilding.travel