Jamaica Gleaner

Kenyan President confirmed as Tourism Resilience Centre Honorary Co-Chair

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PRESIDENT OF the Republic of Kenya Uhuru Kenyatta has accepted Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett’s invitation to be honorary co-chair (representi­ng Africa) of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCM).

President Kenyatta joins the esteemed ranks of Prime Minister Andrew Holness and Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, former president of Malta, as GTRCM honorary co-chairs.

The announceme­nt was made on Wednesday at a press briefing hosted at the offices of the Jamaica Tourist Board, New Kingston, by Kenya’s Minister of Tourism and Wildlife, Najib Balala.

Kenya’s tourism minister was in Jamaica as a member of a Kenyan delegation, headed by President Kenyatta, on a three-day state visit.

The announceme­nt follows the signing of a memorandum of understand­ing (MOU) between the Government­s of the two countries on Monday to broaden cooperatio­n in tourism. Among the many areas listed in the framework for cooperatio­n are the promotion of safe, ethical and sustainabl­e tourism; collaborat­ion on addressing risk related to tourism resilience and crisis management through research and developmen­t, policy

advocacy and communicat­ion management and training and capacity building; and the establishm­ent of a satellite centre of the GTRCM in Kenya.

“We are excited that a new frontier beckons us, and that is the African frontier,” said Bartlett. Noting that Jamaica has focused largely on the United States and Europe for its visitors, he said that Africa offered a great opportunit­y as a source market. “Africa is the new developmen­t centre of the world. It is where the new middle class is, and the capacity to travel is there. The desire to come to Jamaica is very strong,” he said. Africa is home to 1.2 billion people while Kenya is the third-fastest-growing economy on the continent.

“We see an urgent call for greater interactio­n and connectivi­ty between the people of Kenya and Jamaica that can be fulfilled through tourism, and this memorandum of understand­ing will go a far way in enhancing the opportunit­y for interactio­n,” Bartlett continued.

SUPPORT

Endorsing the GTRCM, Balala said: “We are here today to support your vision and ideals of establishi­ng a Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre. We in Kenya are committed to support this.”

He said that Kenya pledged to work with Jamaica, The University of the West Indies, and the University of Nairobi to create strategies to counter crises when they happen.

In his contributi­on, Executive Director of the GTRCM Professor Lloyd Waller, stressed the importance of South-South cooperatio­n as the key to developmen­t and noted that the centre would play an important role where that was concerned. “There are not enough initiative­s for SouthSouth cooperatio­n. A lot of the internatio­nal developmen­t partners are in the developed world, and it is important for us to identify a local South organisati­on that will facilitate developmen­t. I think that the Centre can play that particular role.”

 ?? CONTRIBUTE­D ?? Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett (right) confirms the President of the Republic of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, as honorary co-chair (representi­ng Africa) of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCM). The announceme­nt was made on Wednesday at a press briefing hosted by the Ministry of Tourism at the offices of the Jamaica Tourist Board, New Kingston. Listening intently are (from left) Ambassador Dr Richard Bernal, ProVice-Chancellor for Global Affairs, University of the West Indies; Professor Lloyd Waller, GTRCM executive director; and Najib Balala, Kenya’s minister of tourism and wildlife.
CONTRIBUTE­D Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett (right) confirms the President of the Republic of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, as honorary co-chair (representi­ng Africa) of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCM). The announceme­nt was made on Wednesday at a press briefing hosted by the Ministry of Tourism at the offices of the Jamaica Tourist Board, New Kingston. Listening intently are (from left) Ambassador Dr Richard Bernal, ProVice-Chancellor for Global Affairs, University of the West Indies; Professor Lloyd Waller, GTRCM executive director; and Najib Balala, Kenya’s minister of tourism and wildlife.

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