As the world marks Global Tourism Resilience Day today, the Fiji National University’s College of Business, Hospitality and Tourism Studies (CBHTS) is reinforcing the urgent need to embed resilience at the heart of tourism education.
Head of School for Hospitality and Tourism Studies, Amar Narayan, emphasised that resilience must be treated as a core principle rather than a standalone concept.
“Rather than treating resilience as a standalone topic, it is embedded across strategic management, operations, entrepreneurship, and destination planning courses,” Narayan said.
Narayan explained that tourism resilience refers to the capacity of tourism systems — including businesses, communities, institutions and ecosystems — to anticipate, withstand, adapt to and recover from shocks while maintaining sustainability and competitiveness.
At CBHTS, resilience is integrated throughout tourism and hospitality programmes through crisis and risk management modules, sustainable tourism development courses, climate change and environmental management components, business continuity and adaptive leadership training, community-based tourism planning, and scenario planning supported by case studies such as COVID-19 recovery strategies.
Highlighting the significance of Global Tourism Resilience Day, Narayan stressed that environmental stewardship is fundamental to survival for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) like Fiji.
“For Fiji, tourism resilience is critical because tourism contributes significantly to employment, foreign exchange earnings, and community livelihoods. As a Small Island Developing State, Fiji is highly exposed to cyclones, climate change impacts, global economic shifts, and pandemics. Building resilience ensures economic stability, social continuity, and environmental protection,” he highlighted.
He added that the College equips students with practical skills to respond and adapt to real crises, including natural disasters and economic downturns that frequently affect Pacific Island tourism. Through experiential learning, students undertake industry internships and attachments, participate in disaster-response simulations and scenario exercises, complete business continuity planning projects, and engage in applied research on cyclone or pandemic recovery. Industry guest lectures further expose students to real-world insights from operators who have successfully navigated crises.
“Sustainability is central to resilience. Our programmes address climate change adaptation strategies for island destinations, sustainable resource management, eco-tourism and nature-based tourism models, waste reduction and energy efficiency in hospitality operations, and community-based and culturally respectful tourism,” he explained.
He underscored the critical role of academia in shaping a resilient future saying “Academia provides evidence-based research, long-term strategic thinking, and skilled graduates who implement resilience policies on the ground. In a rapidly changing global environment, resilience must remain dynamic, forward-thinking, and locally grounded.”
Many CBHTS graduates now hold management positions where they integrate sustainability, adaptive leadership and responsible tourism practices into daily operations, strengthening Fiji’s tourism sector for generations to come.
ENDS