The Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC) is a specialized resource hub focused on conducting policy-relevant research aimed at enhancing the preparedness, management, and recovery of tourism destinations affected by disruptions and crises. These challenges, which increasingly threaten the tourism industry, economies, and livelihoods worldwide, have underscored the need for a global initiative dedicated to building resilience in tourism.

The impetus for establishing a global tourism resilience initiative emerged as one of the key outcomes of the UNWTO Global Conference on Sustainable Development, held in Montego Bay, Jamaica, in November 2017. This outcome, known as the Montego Bay Declaration, called for coordinated, institutional responses to a broad range of traditional and emerging threats destabilizing global tourism.

The GTRCMC was officially launched at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in Jamaica and is headquartered at the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Kingston, Jamaica. The Centre operates under the leadership of a Board of Governors, chaired by the Honourable Edmund Bartlett, Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, and co-chaired by Dr. Taleb Rifai, former Secretary-General of the UNWTO. The Regional Co-Chair for Africa is the President of the Republic of Kenya, with Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Tourism and Wildlife serving as a member of the Board. In recognition of its global impact, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 17 February as Global Tourism Resilience Day, to be observed annually. Additionally, in 2021, the GTRCMC was named the World’s Leading Tourism Initiative by the prestigious World Travel Awards.

 

GTRCMC was awarded the World Leading Tourism Initiative 2021 to by the World Travel Awards.

 

The Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre – Eastern Africa was the first Satellite Centre that was established in Kenya in November 2019 and domiciled at Kenyatta University. The creation of the Centre was initiated by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Kenya, in August 2019, following a state visit to Jamaica, together with the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife. The Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife is working with Kenyatta University as a key partner in the development of the Satellite Centre. The Eastern Africa Centre’s Patron is His Excellent the President of the Republic of Kenya. The Board of Governors Chairperson is the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife and the Centre is Co-Chaired by the Vice Chancellor, Kenyatta University.

Some of the research output by the Centre that has shaped tourism in Eastern Africa region

 

The Centre is a first-of-its-kind tourism resource in Africa, serving fourteen countries in the Eastern Africa region: Kenya, Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Madagascar, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Its core mandate includes research, capacity building, and the creation of knowledge, toolkits, guidelines, policies, and projects focused on tourism resilience and crisis management. In March 2020, the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife officially gazetted the Centre, alongside the National Tourism Crisis Steering Committee, designating it as the key think tank for coordinating crisis management, response, and steering efforts for all crises affecting Kenya’s tourism industry.

Since its establishment, the Centre has been a pivotal driver of change in the region. In 2020, the GTRCMC-EA conducted a nationwide study on the impact of COVID-19, which informed the sector’s recovery strategies, particularly in promoting domestic tourism, diversifying products and experiences, and adopting digital technologies. Building on this, the Centre has been developing a digital inventory of tourism products and experiences in Kenya as a pilot project, with plans to expand it across Eastern Africa.

To foster entrepreneurship and human resource resilience, the Centre manages the Paid Internships Abroad Programme, offering opportunities for Eastern African hotel workers, students, and recent graduates in the U.S., as well as facilitating mobility between Europe and Africa. It also drives policy development in Sustainable Tourism and Economic Empowerment, notably contributing to the creation of Harmonized Sustainability Standards for East Africa, which has established a unified framework promoting sustainable practices across the regional tourism sector.

The Centre maintains regular communication with tourism leaders via social media, website and email, providing updates on relevant issues. Looking ahead, it plans to implement early warning systems, crisis mapping, and tourism development imagery using GIS and Sentinel Remote Sensing technologies. Additionally, the Centre is in the process of establishing a Tourism Crisis Management Resource Centre for Eastern Africa, which will feature Tourism Information Hubs maintaining a comprehensive database on tourism resilience and crisis management accessible to stakeholders across the region. This initiative will transform tourism development through ICT, utilizing 3D imagery, panoramic views, GIS, and remote sensing technologies.

The Centre is also in the advanced stages of establishing a UNWTO Sustainable Tourism Observatory, which will be the first in Africa. Furthermore, it is actively promoting visitor economies in conflict zones through a collaboration between Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Spain, and Greece. Feasibility studies have already been completed in parts of Kenya, with further plans to expand the initiative to Ethiopia and Somalia.

Workshop hosted by GTRCMC-EA on 7^th and 8^th March 2023 on internationalization of remote areas of Northern Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia