Jamaica to collaborate with US-based crisis management firm
TOURISM MINISTER Edmund Bartlett is seeking to collaborate with Global Rescue, a US-based provider of medical, security, intelligence and crisis response services to corporations, governments and individuals, to assist with the establishment of the Global Tourism
Resilience and
Crisis Management Centre, which will be launched in the
New Year.
Global Rescue provided services during and following the 2008
terror attacks in Mumbai, India, the 2010 ash cloud in Western Europe, the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings, the 2011 Tsunami in Japan, the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, and other crises. Global Rescue also conducts more than a thousand missions per year around the world, including helicopter evacuations from Mount Everest and other remote locations.
“We are excited about this arrangement because Global Rescue can provide what we call the boots on the ground
for the centre. They already have that capability in terms of their own experiences and their activities at basically every corner of the globe. We feel that with them, Caribbean countries will have a ready response for rescue as well as other kinds of mitigation support during crises,” said the minister. The announcement was made during a meeting at the Montego Bay Convention Centre with representatives from the international organisation, as well as other senior Ministry of Tourism officials recently.
“This company is one of the most sought after. We met in London last month at the meeting of the board for the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre.
“At that discussion, there was the initial thought of collaboration between the two centres. Formal arrangements for this collaboration will be executed at the global launch that will take place at the Montego Bay Convention Centre on January 30,” the Minister said.
Bartlett also said that Global Rescue will support the country with resilience and security issues.
“This is the first of any kind of engagement with an international body of this nature in Jamaica. It will ensure that our promise of safety, security and seamlessness of the destination is delivered,” he said.
The Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre, which will be housed at the University of the West Indies, will assist vulnerable states in destination preparedness, management and recovery from disruptions and/or crises that threaten economies and livelihoods globally with realtime data and effective communication.
Delano Seiveright, senior adviser and strategist in the tourism ministry, noted that the first board of governors and associates meeting for the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre was held on November 4 at the Chesterfield Mayfair Hotel in London and was chaired by former United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Secretary General, Dr Taleb Rifai. Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, president of Malta, jointly hold chairmanship of the Centre.
The board of governors for the centre includes Earl Jarrett, chief executive officer of The Jamaica National Group; Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, vice-chancellor of The University of the West Indies; Professor Lee Miles, professor of crisis and disaster management, Bournemouth University; and Prince Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, chairman of the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage.
“A range of key operational and policy arrangements concerning the January 2019 opening of the Centre were discussed, including the development of a toolkit for resilience and the development of a major programme for the creation of a barometer which will measure the level of resilience in countries.”, Seiveright pointed out.
“We are excited about this arrangement because Global Rescue can provide what we call the boots on the ground for the centre. They already have that capability in terms of their own experiences and their activities at basically every corner of the globe.”