The Tribune

The Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) has launchded a dual effort to improve industry standards and grow the region’s spa and wellness sector.

It has teamed with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DfID) to unveil ‘Industry Standards for Spa and Wellness Entities in CARIFORUM Territories’ and the ‘Caribbean Spa and Wellness Sector Strategy 2014-2018’.

Caribbean Export has this month undertaken a road show to promote these plans, visiting Belize, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Saint Lucia and, finally, Barbados. The latter country saw the unveiling of an implementation plan for the ‘Development and Promotion of the Caribbean Health and Wellness Tourism Sector’.

The project will be funded by CDB under the Caribbean Aid for Trade and Regional Integration Trust Fund (CARTfund) Programme, with financing from UK-AID that will benefit the wider Caribbean.

“The Health and Wellness Sector is considered a specialiaed sector within tourism and, in our view, presents an opportunity for diversifying the tourism product offering across the wider Caribbean region,” said Caribbean Export’s executive director, Pamela Coke-Hamilton.

As part of the road show, Caribbean Export in conjunction with the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) and CARICOM Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ) conducted a workshop for Spa & Wellness practitioners and stakeholders, covering the three main project components.

“It is imperative for the growth of the Spa and Wellness tourism sector here in Barbados, and as a region, that we secure endorsement from national policymakers and other stakeholders who can effect change to raise our standards and make the region more competitive internationally,” said David Gomez, Caribbean Export’s manager of trade and export development.

The ‘Industry Standards for Spa and Wellness Entities in CARIFORUM Territories’ was developed by the University of the West Indies, with Dr Damien Cohall serving as the vhief consultant.

A recent Commonwealth Study found that the global health and wellness industry is a $40 billion international market, and is growing at 30 per cent per annum. The study has also predicted export earnings of around $175 million for the Caribbean.

“Health and wellness has been identified as one of the region’s growth sectors. The sector features a high percentage of women entrepreneurs, and its products and services contribute directly to the health and wellbeing of its largely female client base” said Valarie Pilgrim, operations officer at the Caribbean Development Bank.

“This Regional Spa & Wellness Sector Strategy is intended to be a working document. We are committed to not just the development of the strategy but, more importantly, its implementation.”