News of the formation of a global international tourism think tank on employment issues was a major development outlined on the first day of the Global Tourism Resilience Conference at the UWI Regional Headquarters, Mona in Kingston, Jamaica on February 16.
Dubbed Project Tourism Employment Expansion Mandate, or Project TEEM, the think tank will review research on the post-COVID employment fallout being experienced in the hospitality industry worldwide. Members will devise strategies to address the challenge.
“Tourism recovery from the COVID-19 fallout has not been linear and our labour market has seen a drastic shift. Many tourism workers have left for various reasons, and we need to devise a way to get them back because they are the lifeblood of the industry,” said Minister of Tourism for Jamaica and conceptualiser of Project TEEM, Edmund Bartlett.
Two other important announcements that emerged from day 1 of the conference was news of a Cooperation Agreement between the City of Málaga and the Caribbean Region, and the UN’s approval of the annual commemoration of Global Tourism Resilience Day on February 17. The UN declaration was championed by the Government of Jamaica.
Caribbean destinations stand in line to benefit from the Cooperation Agreement with the City of Malaga in the areas of technology, training, and assistance with the development of the region’s gastronomy product. Malaga is noted for its exceptional use of digital technologies to monitor and manage its tourism product and visitor satisfaction in real time.
