Tourism Minister calls for innovation, resilience and connection to tackle global polycrisis | News
Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett (c) makes his presentation during a panel discussion on ‘The Understanding: Polycrisis in Travel’ at ITB, Berlin on Tuesday 3 March 2026. Also appearing are LR panellists, Aziz Abu Sarah, co-founder of ME JDI Tours and Stephen Dutton, Global Insight Manager, Travel at Euromonitor International.
Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett yesterday delivered a wide-ranging speech at a high-level panel discussion on the poly crisis and its impact on the global tourism industry, underscoring both the deep vulnerabilities and remarkable resilience of tourism as the world’s most important economic activity.
Speaking to an international audience of tourism leaders, policymakers and industry stakeholders at ITB Berlin, the Minister emphasized that tourism operates at the intersection of geophysical, climatic, maritime and political forces – making it uniquely susceptible to global disruption, yet also capable of recovery and growth.
“We are the most vulnerable of all economic activities on planet Earth,” he said, “but we also have the ability to respond, recover, leap forward – not bounce back – and then prosper.”
The minister noted that tourism has evolved from a largely social activity to a powerful economic force, now spanning thousands of communities and dozens of countries around the world. This transformation has not only made the sector’s exposure to the poly crisis more severe, but also more urgent to address from a public policy perspective.
The Minister described the role of tourism in global diplomacy as a fundamental connector of peoples, ideas, lifestyles and ideologies. “Peace is not just the absence of conflict, but the presence of connection,” the minister said, emphasizing that tourism uniquely enables such connectivity across borders and cultures.
The minister also recognized the complex role of religion and politics in promoting understanding or deepening divisions, and called for cooperation based on reciprocity and shared human experiences. “Our politics can bring us together, and yet our divisions say no – this is a major crisis that we must face,” the minister noted.
When asked for recommendations to fellow political leaders on building resilience, the minister placed innovation at the heart of the solution. “Ideas are the driving force behind tourism. Our job as political leaders is to stimulate ideas, create a breeding ground for new ideas, support new ideas and ultimately make money from them,” he said.
The minister highlighted a national flagship initiative: the creation of a tourism innovation incubator, designed to support young entrepreneurs with bold ideas but limited resources. Through this program, participants will receive mentorship from established industry players, access to seed funding for startups and the opportunity to test their concepts against real market conditions.
“We said, come to us with a new way of thinking about tourism. How do we innovate? How do we use your creativity to drive new experiences?” the minister explained. “We measure what they bring to established operations, connect them with entrepreneurs and industry drivers, and then support those who want to move forward with startup funding.”
The comments were made as part of a panel discussion on polycrisis, unpredictability and the future of global tourism, convened to address the increasing convergence of climate, geopolitical and economic pressures facing the sector.
ITB Berlin (Internationale Tourismus Börse) is the world’s leading travel fair, held annually in Berlin, Germany since 1966. It acts as a massive B2B platform and networking hub for the global travel industry, covering destinations, tour operators, airlines and hospitality companies.
