Tourism Linkages Network to host major Spa Standards Workshop — Bartlett

KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Tourism Linkages Network will be hosting a free two-day Spa Standards Workshop, beginning next Monday, November 16, as part of efforts to encourage the adoption of national and international standards by spas across the island.

According to the Ministry of Tourism, the workshop will seek to sensitise the industry about the Linkages Network’s newly developed COVID-19 Safety Manual for Jamaican Spas, which is the first of its kind in the region.

The ministry said the manual incorporates existing protocols for spas from its COVID-19 protocol document as well as the standards outlined by the International Spa Association.

Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett, highlighted that, “This year a record 498 persons have registered for the workshop, which will be streamed on the Tourism Enhancement Fund’s social media pages, on November 16 and 17.”

“This is a very important workshop which will include presentations on topics such as: ‘Visioning the Spa Industry Through Destination Integrity and Assurance,’ Understanding the Requirements of the Spa Standard JS319, as well as a presentation on the new COVID-19 Safety Manual for Spas,” he explained.

The ministry’s training arm, the Jamaica Centre of Tourism Innovation, will also be collaborating on this initiative to offer spa certification training for qualified spa practitioners.The Spa Standards and Certification programme began in 2017, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Wellness, the Jamaica Bureau of Standards and the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo). The ministry said that to date, over 250 stakeholders across the island have benefited.

The ministry added that the Tourism Linkages Network will also be hosting its second annual Jamaica Health and Wellness Tourism Conference from Wednesday, November 18 to Thursday, November 19 at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, under the theme: “Reset, Reimagine, Restore”.

“The conference will bring together leaders in the health and wellness tourism industry from Jamaica, the Caribbean and around the world for one of the most important conferences on Jamaica’s tourism schedule. This year’s conference will be a hybrid event with limited in-person attendance and live streaming via social media, which will bring the activity to the entire global wellness tourism community,” Bartlett said.

Additional information on both events can be accessed at wellnessinja.com.

Source: Jamaica Observer