GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The director of the Tourism Crisis Management Institute at the University of Florida will speak this week in front of a congress in Mexico about examining the safety and security of travelers.

Dr. Lori Pennington-Gray, TCMI director and associate professor in the College of Health and Human Performance, was invited by Mexico’s minister of tourism to address about 200 scholars and tourism industry researchers at the National Congress of Tourism Investigation Tuesday through Friday.

This congress is the largest event of its kind in Latin America and has had attendees from all Spanish-speaking countries since 2004.

This year the event will focus on safety and security of travelers and crisis management. Such topics as terrorism, pandemic planning, climate change and natural disasters will be covered.  Pennington-Gray will address the group following the opening ceremony where Minister of Tourism Rodolfo Elizondo Torres will welcome the group and launch the congress.

 Pennington-Gray will share a model for tourism crisis management planning and share the institute’s most recent studies with the delegates. Her talk will provide a framework for scholars and researchers to start thinking about tourism crisis management.

For more information, please visit www.tourismcrisis.com or contact Pennington-Gray at 352-392-4042, ext. 1318, or by e-mail at penngray@hhp.ufl.edu.