Workshop On Multi–Hazard & Contingency Planning

On April 16^th and 17^th, the Belize Tourism Board and the Belize Tourism Industry Association, in collaboration with the Organization of American States, held a two day workshop focusing on Multi-Hazard and Contingency Planning. This event held at the ITVET facilities in Belize City, was intended to assess and prepare private and public sector tourism interests for natural and man-made hazards.

The objective of the workshop was to prepare and train tourism associations covering critical areas such as an institutional framework for management and planning for emergency response and recovery, mitigation for emergencies, damage and needs assessment after an emergency, public relations (national and international) and emergency systems and procedures for individual properties. During the training there was mention of the inception of a tourism emergency management committee that would feed into the national system already in place via NEMO, utilizing local destination committees/clusters for effectiveness.

The Contingency planning process was designed by the Organization of American States, in collaboration with their international partners and implemented in countries across the Caribbean. Day One of the Workshop included an overview of the Project and Institutional Framework for Multi-Hazard Contingency Planning by OAS Country Representative, Kim Osborne. Mrs. Osborne reiterated the need for each establishment such as hotels and craft markets to institute a mechanism within their establishment "to prepare for, respond to and recover from not only from natural disasters, but man-made disasters as well. The day's activities also included the structure of Belize's emergency framework via the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) and hotel security. Day two included a table top emergency simulation exercise and the necessary steps needed to realize an institutional framework for tourism.

Security Specialist for several international tourism entities chaired the sessions on Multi-Hazard Contingency Planning & Hotel Security. Mr. Chin has chaired the Hotel Association of New York City's Safety & Security Committee since 1993, is a member of the American Hotel & Lodging Association Loss Prevention Committee and was certified as an Anti-Terrorism Specialist by the FBI Citizen's Academy.

Director of Product Development, Laura Esquivel Frampton, stated that "partnering with the OAS, the BTIA, NEMO and other regional institutions is an excellent way to build a capacity within the tourism sector for incorporating disaster management considerations into our planning and programming in a regional effort to embed a comprehensive disaster management strategy for Belize."

Present at the two day sessions were Board representatives from the Belize Hotel Association, Belize National Tour Operator Association, Belize National Tour Guide Association, BTIA Destination Chapters, municipal councils/governments, BERT, Belize Tourism Police Unit and several other private sector entities.