Following a proposal from Jamaica to implicate a new Global Tourism Resilience Day, the UN has accepted the declaration and adopted the new Tourism Day to celebrate and bring awareness to the resilience of the travel and tourism industry.
Jamaica originally declared the 17th of February as the new Global Tourism Resilience Day and this was subsequently celebrated and adopted by the UN just this week (commencing Monday the 6th of February). On the 6th of February, this day of awareness was officially declared by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and the announcement was supported by over ninety countries after a month of advocacy for the day.
The new Global Tourism Resilience Day was supported by countries including the Bahamas, Belize, Botswana, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Georgia, Greece, Guyana, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Malta, Namibia, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain, and Zambia.
This day was declared as one to promote a sustainable and resilient travel and tourism industry, bringing in a focus on the potential of the industry to drive economic growth, social development, financial inclusion, and environmental benefits. This comes following the great display of resilience exuded throughout the Covid pandemic and promotes further resilience through sustainability and inclusion.
On Monday the 6th of February, the UN voted to implement Global Tourism Resilience Day and a resolution that was drafted by the Global Travel and Tourism Resilience Council as well as the Global Tourism Resilience & Crisis Management Centre. This will be the second designation of the UN attributed to the efforts of Jamaica following the International Year of Human Rights that was designated in 1968.
Edmund Bartlett, the Jamaica Tourism Minister, said, “Today’s announcement will in fact signal to the world to put aside one day, 17 February, every year to not just observe but to create a greater level of consciousness around resilience.
“The pandemic has shown us that global disruptions will continue, so there will be more epidemics, pandemics and earthquakes like the one in Turkey.”
Laurie Myers, a Resilience Council spokesperson also added, “Every year leading up to February 17 we will run events and campaigns to remind both the public and private sectors to focus on preparedness, sustainability, recovery and resilience with the outstanding examples being honoured establishing best practice and in the process saving lives.”
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