The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), in partnership with the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC) and George Brown Polytechnic, brought together tourism leaders, policymakers, academics and industry stakeholders in Toronto for the Canadian–Caribbean Tourism Resilience Symposium last week.
Held under the theme “Co-Designing the Next Decade,” the symposium explored how stronger partnerships, innovation and strategic investment can help build more resilient and sustainable tourism destinations.
Opening the symposium, CTO Secretary-General and CEO Dona Regis-Prosper reminded delegates that “resilience is not something we create after a crisis. It is something we build every day,” emphasizing that resilience must be embedded in tourism policies, institutions and people.
Jamaica’s minister of tourism, Edmund Bartlett, declared that “the world has changed [and] tourism must change with it,” calling for greater investment in preparedness and a permanent Global Tourism Resilience Fund.
CTO Deputy Director of Sustainable Tourism Narendra Ramgulamstressed the importance of planning before disaster strikes, observing that “Noah didn’t build the ark when the rain started falling; he built it before the first cloud appeared,” while CTO Director of Resource Mobilization and Development Sharon Banfield-Bovell underscored that tourism resilience is ultimately people resilience, urging stronger collaboration among governments, employers, educators and the tourism industry to build a workforce equipped for the future.
