MONTEGO BAY, St James — The founder of the recently launched Caribbean Front Desk (CFD) — a health and wellness tour platform said to be poised to significantly boost the region’s tourism sector — says there is already strong interest from both local and international investors.

The $43.4-million wellness tourism portal was officially unveiled at Half Moon Hotel in Montego Bay, St James, recently.

“There are facilities in Jamaica that are contacting me that want to collaborate, and there are investors overseas that are interested in investing in a platform like this. So definitely we’re getting a lot of attention,” CFD founder Dr Duane Chambers told the Jamaica Observer by phone Monday.

“We are doing some market testing, we [are] making some small advertising changes, but I have a couple meetings tomorrow (Tuesday) and the day after for some training. So I am going pretty well,” added the radiologist.

CFD’s core services include a diverse range of medical and wellness experiences — such as cosmetic dermatology, psilocybin retreats, yoga, stress management, nature excursions, and farm-to-table gastronomy. The initiative also offers insurance solutions through partnerships with IMG for affordable, accessible care for international travellers.

IMG is a provider of global insurance benefits and assistance services.

“We identify different excursions that are involved in the wellness space. We have doctors, we have psilocybin, we have traditional excursions in nature and adventure wellness,” Dr Chambers explained.

“We have tour operators that are on-board. We charge them a percentage to basically facilitate tourist bookings [of] their excursions. We basically curate an itinerary. [If] someone is coming to the island to have Botox and massage and go to natural pools somewhere we can sell these excursions for them and they pay us a commission,” he added.

During the launch, Dr Chambers emphasised his commitment to the growth of CFD, expressing plans to onboard as many companies as possible to elevate Jamaica’s wellness industry and ensure that all participants share in the sector’s benefits.

He underscored that as Jamaica’s spas continue to reach world-class standards, the country is emerging as a premier wellness destination, with hot springs that rival those in Germany and Switzerland.

The CFD project aims to position Jamaica as a premier destination for wellness tourism — an ambitious venture expected to create new opportunities in health and wellness services while enhancing the island’s appeal in the global tourism market.

Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) Programme Execution Officer Diedre-Ann Burrell expressed confidence that the CFD will make a significant impact by helping to keep more tourism earnings in Jamaica.

“That’s always a good thing for our economy,” she stated.

During the launch, executive director of the Tourism Enhancement Fund Dr Carey Wallace emphasised the need for a more strategic and sophisticated approach to delivering tourism services — one driven by innovation and smart technology.

“We have to get a bit more strategic than that. Tonight, we’re celebrating one of such strategies, one of such deep diving into more sophisticated delivery of services, taking advantage of the technologies that are available to us. Because, rest assured, if we don’t take advantage of the technologies available, others will, and in so doing, they’ll leapfrog past us,” he said.