GTRCMC Lecture Examines Hurricane Management During A Pandemic

The Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC) will be hosting its second Edmund Bartlett Lecture Series under the theme, ‘Managing the Hurricane Season in the Shadow of the Coronavirus Pandemic,’ on Thursday, June 25, beginning at 11:00 a.m.

The event will be held virtually and is open to everyone, particularly tourism and climate stakeholders, both locally and internationally.
Executive Director of the GTRCMC, Professor Lloyd Waller, told JIS News that the event addresses two of the Centre’s thematic areas – tourism climate resilience and pandemic management.

He noted that activities that are normally carried out during or after a hurricane become risky in a pandemic, and it is, therefore, important to examine how government, businesses and tourists can prepare to respond.

“It’s that kind of holistic generic approach that we wanted to look at as a way of getting Jamaica and the world prepared for and thinking about the hurricane season, during the coronavirus pandemic,” Professor Waller said.

The event is expected to bring together stakeholders from across the world to engage, share information and develop long-term policy and strategic solutions, best practices and case studies in tourism pandemic and economic resilience management.

Speakers will include Global Director, Consumer Industry Weather and Climate Strategy, IMB Services, Paul Walsh; Chief Executive Officer, Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association, Frank Comito; Head of the Disaster Risk Reduction, Recovery and Resilience Team, United Nations Development Programme, Ronald Jackson; Assistant Director, Caribbean Public Health Agency, Lisa Indar; and Chief Executive Officer, Vanilla Islands Organisation, Pascal Viroleau.

Persons interested in participating are being invited to register at http://www.gtrcmc.org/ or watch the live stream on the GTRCMC website, Instagram or Facebook pages.

The GTRCMC, based at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, is tasked with creating, producing and generating toolkits, guidelines and policies to handle the recovery process following a disaster.

The Centre will also assist with preparedness, management and recovery from disruptions and/or crises that impact tourism and threaten economies and livelihoods worldwide.