Inaugural Awards to Recognise Excellence in Health and Wellness Tourism

Several health and wellness providers in the hospitality sector will be recognised for their contribution at the inaugural Awards Ceremony at the Montego Bay Convention Centre in St. James on Thursday (November 16).

The ceremony, an added feature of this year’s staging of the fifth annual Jamaica Health and Wellness Tourism Conference, will take place on day one of the two-day event, which concludes on Friday, November 17.

Speaking in an interview with JIS News, Director, Tourism Linkages Network, Carolyn McDonald Riley, said that stakeholders will be recognised across seven categories, including Outstanding Wellness Resort, Outstanding Spa/Wellness Facility, Innovation in Health and Wellness Tourism, Outstanding Contribution to Education and Training in Wellness Tourism, Wellness Travel Blogger/Social Media influencer, Outstanding Wellness Retreat/Event and Wellness Tourism Industry Pioneer.

“We are so excited about it, and this is really what will bring day one [of the conference] to a close,” she said.
Mrs. McDonald Riley indicated that the nominations for awards came from the Health and Wellness Network of the Tourism Linkages Network.

“We would have had supporting information from our Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), who has the responsibility for ensuring that the product remains in tip-top shape,” Mrs. McDonald Riley added, noting that the product quality officers also provided information “in terms of what properties are doing what”.

A total of 32 nominations were received across the seven categories.

Each category had a set of eligibility criteria.

Meanwhile, the Tourism Linkages Network Director is encouraging Jamaicans at home and in the diaspora to attend the conference, whether in person or online via the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) Facebook, Instagram and YouTube platforms.

Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett will deliver the keynote address.

“There will be two days of exciting interaction and great panel discussion, fireside chats and moving presentations. So, [ I am] looking forward to seeing us all. It is free but we must register to be a part of the physical group,” Mrs. McDonald Riley said.

Persons are being asked to register at https://wellnessinja.com/ to attend.

The conference, being organised by the Tourism Linkages Network, a department of the TEF, is being held under the theme ‘The Blue Ocean Revolution: Unlocking the potential of health and wellness tourism’.

It provides a platform for knowledge exchange, multisectoral integration, presentations of research, and data insights in the area of health and wellness tourism.

It also aims to strengthen connections between the health and wellness industry and other sectors, particularly manufacturing and agriculture, while promoting and presenting Jamaica’s distinctive health and wellness tourism products.