The Barbados-based Caribbean tourism Organization has launched new risk management course to help improve the tourism industry’s response to natural and other hazards.

The launch of the program, which coincides with the beginning of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, aims to improve the “skills and competencies of regional tourism industry stakeholders.”

“With the scientists predicting an active season, the launch of this training course by the CTO is both timely and relevant as it will provide participants with practical skills to mitigate, prepare for, respond to and recover from not just hurricanes, but the range of natural and other hazards which can affect the Caribbean tourism industry,” says Neil Walters, the CTO’s acting secretary general.

The three-month certificate course, which runs through the end of August, was designed to help “reduce vulnerability and increase the resilience of the tourism sector in CTO member countries through an integrated approach to risk management.”

It’s one of two online training courses offered by the CTO; the other is a focus on sustainable tourism policy, which is slated to begin in September.

“The ability to deliver opportunities for online learning has become critically important in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is of strategic importance to the CTO and in addition to these first two courses, the CTO is in the process of updating its various professional development courses to adapt for online delivery. CTO is grateful for the support of its project partners that have assisted in the organisation’s ability to deliver on this important mandate,” Walters said.

For more, contact ctobarbados@caribtourism.com.

— CJ