The fourth staging of the Global Tourism Resilience Day Conference and Expo (GTRDCE) will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, from February 16 to 18.

The three-day event will take place at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).

Under the theme ‘Tourism Resilience in Action: From Crisis Response to Impactful Transformation’, the focus will be on building a sector capable of weathering disruptions and sustaining growth through recovery.

Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, in his remarks at the GTRDCE press launch at the Ministry’s New Kingston offices on Monday, February 9, said that with annual expenditure of US$8 trillion, “tourism…has become the basis for global economic growth and development”.

He said that building resilience is crucial in ensuring quick recovery from disruptions to prevent the devastation of livelihoods, particularly for tourism-dependent Caribbean countries.

“The Caribbean, which we represent, is perhaps the most tourism-dependent region on earth with GDP (gross domestic product) dependence ranging from 15 per cent to 90 per cent, and where jobs and employment represent some 20 per cent of all the employed people in the region,” he noted. 

He said that Jamaica’s tourism achieved 70 per cent recovery within eight weeks of the category-five storm. “This is what we are talking about when we promote resilience in tourism. It’s about responding fast to difficulties, recovering quickly, but thriving afterwards and growing and becoming a greater force and adding more value to our space,” Bartlett said.

Director of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre, Eastern Africa (GTRCMC-EA) and lead planner for this year’s conference, Dr Albert Kariuki, noted that while Kenya’s renowned ecotourism sector has seen exponential growth since the COVID-19 pandemic, its foundations remain susceptible to external shocks.

“It can collapse with a pandemic. It can be washed away by a storm, blown away by a hurricane or a tsunami, shaken by a tsunami. It can go silent with geopolitical tension or heat up with the flames of climate emergency…We need to move from crisis response to crisis resilience. But let us be clear, resilience is not just about bouncing back to where we are. It’s about bouncing forward, doing even better,” Dr Kariuki said in his virtual address.

He said that this year’s event will include the main conference held at KICC, more than 80 booths exhibiting tourism-related content, recognition awards, wildlife excursions, and case studies of resilience in tourism in and around Kenya.

The GTRDCE will bring together tourism partners from around the globe to exchange ideas, experiences and visions for building a more sustainable and resilient tourism industry worldwide.

It will include the observance of Global Tourism Resilience Day on February 17.

At the close of the event, Bartlett, who is founder of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC), will announce the Nairobi Declaration for Tourism Resilience, which will guide discussion points until the fifth staging of the GTRDCE next year.

The conference will be held in partnership with Cabinet Secretary in charge of Tourism and Wildlife in Kenya, Hon. Rebecca Miano.