Above: Turks and Caicos

By the Caribbean Journal staff

As the Caribbean looks to develop its medical tourism dreams into realities, the Turks and Caicos Islands is looking to join the fray.

The British Overseas Territory’s Cabinet announced this week that it had approved the membership of a Medical Tourism Steering Committee.

The committee, which is established initially for a period of one year, will “develop clear policies for the operation of medical tourism activities in the hospitals in Providenciales and Grand Turk,” according to a Cabinet statement released on Friday.

Turks and Caicos Islands Governor Peter Beckingham first announced the territory’s plans to develop a medical tourism policy in his Throne Speech at the beginning of January.

That is part of a wider push by the Turks and Caicos Islands to expand its tourism product beyond the traditional hub of Providenciales.

Several other countries in the region have announced similar pushes to court medical tourists, most notably Jamaica.

Later this month, a major health tourism project called “Health City Cayman Islands” is slated to debut on Grand Cayman.