The Caribbean Spa and Wellness Association (C-SWA) supported by the Caribbean Export Develop-ment Agency launched its new website last week as it advanced plans to promote the Caribbean as a leading spa destination by 2015.
According to a press release, the “Development and Promotion of the Caribbean Health and Wellness Tourism Sector” project is being conducted in partnership with C-SWA and is funded by the UK’s Department for International Development through the Caribbean Development Bank.
At a press briefing held last Friday, Pamela Coke-Hamilton, Executive Director of Caribbean Export said the region had the ideal environment for a thriving health and wellness sector. C-SWA chairman Steve Andrews echoed this view, adding that the global economic crisis was leading to a “more stressed out people” looking for the tranquility found at spas.
Andrews also pointed out that it can take as long as 18 hours to reach Thailand from North America yet that country’s health and wellness sector has grown by 12 per cent.
He posited that the Caribbean had the potential to divert some of the traffic from those destinations, particularly since it would mean