This week coincides with Global Tourism Resilience Day (February 17) a United Nations-recognised observance championed by Jamaica and supported by the United Nations General Assembly. It is more than a symbolic date. It is a reminder that tourism is not fragile it is foundational.
Jamaica deserves recognition for elevating this conversation globally through the establishment of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre (GTRCMC) at the University of the West Indies one of the first institutional efforts to treat tourism resilience as structured economic planning, not reactive crisis management. For those of us working across Africa and the Caribbean, this is not theory. It is partnership in practice.
Tourism Is the First to Feel Disruption
Health crises slow movement. Climate events damage infrastructure. Perception shifts faster than policy can respond. Tourism often absorbs the first shock and the harshest narrative. This vulnerability is frequently cited as a reason to treat tourism as secondary. In reality, it is precisely why tourism must be embedded within resilience frameworks not excluded from them. Tourism does not sit outside health and climate conversations. It sits at the intersection of both.
Health Systems Are Tourism Infrastructure ;Whether We Admit It or Not
Traveller confidence is inseparable from public health capacity. Before booking a flight, a visitor considers: Access to healthcare , Emergency response capability , Public health communication, Cross-border coordination
These factors influence demand, length of stay, spend behaviour, and repeat visitation. Countries that recovered fastest after global health disruption were not those with the loudest marketing campaigns but those with credible health governance and transparent systems.
Jamaica’s Resilience Corridors during COVID-19 were among the first structured solutions globally controlled mobility zones that allowed tourism activity to continue safely while protecting communities. It was a practical demonstration that health and tourism policy can move in alignment, not opposition.
Resilience is not about stopping tourism. It is about redesigning it intelligently.
Climate Risk Is Tourism Risk
Tourism assets are inherently climate-exposed: Coastlines, Forests ,Heritage sites, Wetlands, Urban corridors, Transport infrastructure.
Flooding, erosion, heat stress, and environmental degradation directly affect tourism revenue stability. And yet, resilience is not theoretical in the Caribbean. Even after October’s hurricane impacts across the region, Jamaica has continued forward without allowing disruption to derail its long-term tourism strategy. Recovery has not replaced ambition it has reinforced it.
Climate adaptation protects: Jobs, SMEs, Foreign exchange inflows, National reputation. Tourism is not separate from climate policy. It is one of its most visible economic test cases.
Why Tourism Must Be Embedded in Resilience Planning
Tourism intersects with: Movement of people, Public health systems, Emergency response, Environmental stewardship, Urban planning, Aviation and border systems. Excluding tourism from resilience frameworks creates blind spots.
Including it strengthens: Early-warning systems ,Crisis coordination, Infrastructure durability, Cross-sector response. Resilience planning that ignores tourism is incomplete. Tourism planning that ignores resilience is unsustainable.
