Jamaica minister for tourism Edmund Bartlett will be in Toronto for a ceremony this week establishing a satellite centre for the expanding Global Tourism Resilience & Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC) at the city’s George Brown College.

Bartlett, who was instrumental in the establishment of GTRCMC, based at the University of the West Indies’ Mona Campus in Jamaica, will sign a Memorandum of Understanding  with George Brown College president Dr. Gervan Fearon on Friday.

The GTRCMC was established in 2018 by Bartlett and Dr. Taleb Rafai (former Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization) as a global think tank that focuses exclusively on building resilience and managing crises that disrupt tourism.

George Brown College will become the first Canadian partner of the Centre and establish a Satellite Centre focused on research and development, policy advocacy and communication management, program/project design and management, and training and capacity building in various areas.

This partnership announcement between the GTRCMC and George comes at a critical time for the industry as it recovers from a global pandemic and deals with economic fallout from the ongoing war in Eastern Europe. The Centre also focuses on research and anticipating the next inevitable crises and tourism disruptors so that global tourism destinations can better prepare themselves and ensure tourism resilience and ability to recover from these disruptors.

“We are thrilled to embark on this partnership with George Brown College as they establish a GTRCMC Satellite Centre in Canada. This Centre will be a centre of excellence for research related to tourism resilience and an opportunity to exchange knowledge between our countries to benefit global tourism,” said Bartlett. “This is a critical time in history for us to forge global partnerships in order to ensure the resilience of our industry.”

“George Brown College offers an innovative approach to career-oriented education programs and applied research initiatives within the Canadian setting,” added Fearon. “This partnership with the GTRCMC at the University of the West Indies in Jamaica is an exciting opportunity for our college, particularly for our School of Hospitality & Tourism Management and recently established Brookfield Sustainability Institute.

“This collaboration includes international learning exchange, joint teaching between our institutions, as well as industry-focused student exchange and applied research activities. This partnership provides the opportunity for our students, faculty, and staff to contribute to tourism sustainability in a real and tangible way at a global level.”