PETERKIN. the next set of hotels should not just be hotels

MONTEGO BAY, St James - Health Minister John Junor suggested this week that Jamaica increase its efforts to develop and promote health tourism.

"The greatest potential for health and tourism lies in the marriage of both, to maximise the synergies and evolve new products and services," said the minister.

JUNOR.this is a niche to which some of our hospitals can look to establish business opportunities

"There are many opportunities to capitalise on the health tourism nexus... Perhaps this is a niche to which some of our hospitals can look to establish business opportunities and develop centres of excellence," Junor told a tourism conference put on by the St James Health Department in Montego Bay.

The minister was supported by Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) president Horace Peterkin.

"There is a huge market for cosmetic surgery, fat farms, indigent services etc and we just have not focussed on it. We have all the ingredients. We are close to the largest market for those services, (the US) and we have the world-class tourism professionals and medical practitioners," said Peterkin.

Peterkin said he would be encouraging hoteliers to invest in health tourism since it is a lucrative way forward for the industry.

"While I am president of the hotel association I am going to work assiduously with the health department. And I am going to urge my colleagues (that) when they are thinking of investing to.start looking in that direction," he said.

Said Peterkin: "What we need now is to get into the serious business of developing the facilities locally. The next set of hotels should not just be hotels. They should be designed to focus on these things where they have a medical centre, where they are doing the cosmetic surgery and the other things.

"Then the hoteliers will take over in terms of providing the services for them to recover and rest and enjoy their time while they are recuperating from these procedures. We should not be left behind," the JHTA president said.

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