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More business trips for 2007 Wellness industry healthy for region's tourism 'Genius of Ja' campaign moves to next level Sustainable tourism confab set for Cayman Islands Carib health tourism & spa symposium for May

Photo by Rosemary Parkinson - Grand Lido Braco: A blessed spot for a wellness weekend.

The Caribbean's natural resources place it in an excellent position to take advantage of the global trend of wellness tourism, a leading health and wellness expert contends.

Eric Light, president of the International Medical Spa Association, says health tourism is a growing interest, with more and more people looking beyond the cosmetic or orthopaedic surgery market.

"There is an alternative strategy that responds directly to the needs of a larger potential market while building on the natural resources of the Caribbean," Light says. "Often called 'wellness', the rapidly growing consumer interest in lifestyle improvement will offer anyone, from the single practitioner to boutique hotels to large scale resorts, ways to create differentiation in the marketplace."

leading expert

Light is recognised as a leading expert in spa, medical spa and wellness centre development, and has helped develop facilities around the globe. He will discuss global consumer trends and how they will affect the marketing of today's business while positioning it for the future in a session dubbed, "Health Tourism - Alternate Strategies for the Caribbean" during the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) ninth annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development, otherwise called the Sustainable Tourism Conference (STC-9), in the Cayman Islands in May 2007.

Light's presentation will focus on how to expand this potential market all while developing strategies to employ the natural resources of the Caribbean.

Themed 'Health and Wellness: Communities, Environments & Economies', STC-9 will be held May 21-24, 2007, at the Westin Casuarina Resort & Spa in Grand Cayman, the Cayman Islands.

sessions

General sessions include: Health and Wellness Tourism: Opportunities and Challenges; Securing Environmental and Human Capital; Defining the Way Forward and Stakeholders Speak Out featuring discussions about "Developing Valuable Tourism Resources Within Our Communities: the Grand Cayman Go East Initiative," "Preserving Our Culture: Preserving a Caymanian Identity," "Raising the Bar: Customer Service Standards for the Tourism Sector," and "The Role of the National Trust in Tourism Development".

Workshops will focus on "Integrated Coastal Zone Management" and "Developing a Spa Business". There will also be a special presentation by the Puerto Rico Tourism Company on developments there since San Juan hosted the eighth annual Sustainable Tourism Conference (STC-8) in April 2006.

The annual Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development is part of the information dissemination and regional awareness component of CTO's Strategy for Sustainable Tourism. It looks at how member states can design and implement sustainable tourism policies and programmes, offering a regional forum for information exchange on the successes and pitfalls of national, regional and international initiatives.