A two-day workshop focussing on Disaster Contingency Planning for local hoteliers began Monday at the NIS Training Room.
The workshop, which is being hosted by the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Tourism Authority, will focus on developing disaster contingency plans for properties on the islands of St. Vincent and Bequia.
Speaking to participants at the workshop, Michelle Forbes, deputy director of the National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO), stated that the workshop will stress the importance of business continuity for properties after a disaster, to ensure they recover in the shortest possible time.
She said the focus will be on examining the various possible hazards that can affect the accommodation sector and how the sector can use an anticipatory mode as opposed to a reactive mode to respond.
She further stated that strategic partnerships are critical when dealing with disaster risk management.
At the end of the sessions, it is anticipated that the persons in attendance will have a draft multi-hazard contingency plan, which is a key safety and security recommendation in the standard for tourist accommodation.
The Tourism Authority is implementing the minimum standards for all tourism services, in keeping with its mandates to encourage the establishment of amenities and facilities necessary for the proper enjoyment of SVG as a tourist destination and to classify, rate and register tourism services and establishments in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
The workshop is being funded by the local European Development Fund (EDF) Office and is being facilitated by NEMO.
I wonder if the safety issue was also discussed at this forum. This is very important, especially since there are so many visitors being killed and harmed in SVG. If this keeps up there would be no more visitors and probably no need for forums like this.
Recently a writer was heavily criticized for pointing out the dangers visitors encounter while in SVG. How ironic that it took less than a few months to show the assessment from the writer was accurate.