Herbs and spas in the spotlight

“There is a growing consciousness of the need for healthy lifestyles to combat health-related chronic diseases and promoting self-awareness by paying closer attention to one’s own health and well-being. We see the World Health Organization and our own Ministry of Health and Wellness promoting these values,” Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett said, among other things.

He was speaking on day one of the two-day inaugural Jamaica Health and Wellness Tourism Conference inside the Montego Bay Convention Centre on Wednesday, November 20.

Under the theme ‘The New Futures’, the event was organised by the Tourism Linkages Network, a division of the Tourism Enhancement Fund, an agency of the Ministry of Tourism.

In the programme notes, Minister Bartlett also says, “The main areas we are focusing on are research and development in the herbaceuticals sector, including promotion of natural skincare and health products based on plants endemic to Jamaica, as well as developing the standards in the spa industry.”

To this end, many businesses, including that of the chairman of the Health and Wellness Network, Professor Henry Lowe, were present to showcase their products made of natural ingredients for culinary, medicinal and cosmetic purposes. A number of spas were also in the house to demonstrate their services.

In his address, Minister Bartlett said, “We are extremely fortunate to get Jamaica’s foremost scientist on health and wellness, the great Dr Henry Lowe, to chair this network and from the reports I’ve had, big things are in store.”

RICH HERITAGE

The minister spoke about our rich cultural heritage and the many recipes and concoctions that have been passed down from one generation to the next, but he cautioned, “We are in modern times when scientific knowledge is necessary to ensure that all manufactured products meet safety standards.

“So, the Health and Wellness Network has been helping to bridge the gap between grandma’s traditional concoctions of ­traditional bush medicine and the need for scientifically tested and proven standards demanded by the market in commerce and industry today,” the minister added.

He expressed his pride in “the excellent work being done in this area involving The University of the West Indies and independent ­companies, such as Biotech Research and Development Institute, in carrying out research that will benefit players in this subsector”.

The issue of traditional herbal products was also discussed in a panel called ‘Communities and the Wellness Tourism Experience’. Moderated by Christine Benjamin, owner of Benjamin Apex, the panellists were Edward ‘Firstman’ Wray of the Rastafarian Indigenous Village in St James; Lisa Binns of Stush in the Bush; Carmen Portella from Puerto Rico; and Colonel Marcia Douglas of the Charles Town Maroons in Portland.

Like the growth in the herbal products industry, there has been an increase in the number of spas popping up on the island. “In recent years, we have seen a phenomenal growth in the establishment of spas, both in and outside of hotels,” Bartlett said, and that “a very important partnership has already been established with the Bureau of Standards for ­quality testing and standardisation of spas”.

“With the mushrooming of spas, there has also been a corresponding increase in the creation of new healthy lifestyle products, either for the external body or consumption. This, too, must meet international standards, and I am also pleased that headway is being made in this area also,” the minister stated.

He said held recently there was a skincare product development workshop with a special interest in looking at the by-products of Blue Mountain coffee in the making of exotic skincare products. Over 60 people participated in that workshop.