The Nairobi Declaration to set new global standards for tourism protection

Kenya, Jamaica, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, and Angola have committed to establishing regional Tourism Resilience Funds and financing climate adaptation measures while prioritizing women and youth as key players in the transformation of the global tourism industry.

Further, the declaration will prioritise the protection of biodiversity, wildlife, and cultural heritage as foundational assets, championing regenerative tourism models that leave destinations better than they were found.

The declaration was a key highlight of the second day of the historic summit which convened Monday and ends on Wednesday.

While making his remarks at the conference, Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs Musalia Mudavadi noted that the government is committed to diversifying tourism products beyond traditional wildlife safaris.

“We have embraced tourism resilience as a national priority. Currently, we are investing in diversified tourism products, expanding beyond traditional wildlife safaris to include cultural tourism, ecotourism, sports tourism, astronomy tourism, and digital innovation in travel services,” said Mudavadi.

The Prime Cabinet Secretary emphasised that resilience must be inclusive, ensuring that local communities, youth entrepreneurs, women-led enterprises, and small businesses are fully incorporated into the tourism ecosystem.

“The role of governments is to link them to financing, technology, and global markets. I call upon all present here today to collaborate since solitary action is as good as mute,” Mudavadi added.

Held under the theme “Tourism Resilience in Action: From Crisis Response to Impactful Transformation,” the three-day conference brought together Ministers, policymakers, and industry leaders to advance solutions that strengthen tourism’s ability to anticipate, respond to and recover from crises.

Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano underscored the urgency of embedding resilience into the sector. “We have surveyed the shifting landscape of risk that now defines our world and have now forged a conviction that resilience can no longer remain a postscript to crisis,” CS Miano stated.

The summit also witnessed the signing of a bilateral Memorandum of Understanding between Kenya and Jamaica that would cement the renewed collaboration of the Global Tourism Resilience and Crisis Management Centre – Eastern Africa, which was first established in November 2019 at Kenyatta University. The centre has been providing technical assistance and capacity building to 14 countries in the region.

The MOU will also designate the Tourism Regulatory Authority (TRA) as a key partner in the rollout of tourism interventions. Likewise, Jamaica will support Kenya in developing an AI tool for tourism crisis detection, forecasting, and resilience management.

Jamaica’s Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, who championed the UN resolution establishing February 17 as Global Tourism Resilience Day and co-chairs the global resilience movement, lauded Kenya’s leadership in the movement and termed the Nairobi Declaration as a significant milestone in the global journey toward a more resilient and inclusive tourism sector.

The Nairobi declaration calls for the full participation of women, youth, indigenous communities, and vulnerable groups in shaping resilience policies, with investment in workforce development and crisis-response competencies to foster local ownership and equitable benefit-sharing.

The declaration envisions a global tourism sector that by 2030 will be more resilient to shocks, inclusive in the distribution of opportunity, sustainable in environmental and social practice and collaborative in governance.