President Obama has announced the first ever national strategy on travel and tourism to boost travel to the United States and make it the number one destination. This could benefit the high-end medical tourism trade.

Doctors Hospital in the Bahamas will in early 2012 begin another medical tourism initiative. The Nassau hospital is launching a project with a consortium of US specialists, a spinal parts manufacturer and Bahamian specialist, Dr Valentine Grimes. Three US surgeons plan to go to the hospital with their own patients to carry out spinal surgery.

The island of Saint Lucia, known as a leading Caribbean destination for romance and boutique luxury, is embracing a new niche - health and wellness. The first Saint Lucia Health and Wellness Retreat is set for November 17 to 20 in Soufrière with the support of the Soufrière Foundation, the Saint Lucia Tourist Board and American Airlines.

With cosmetic surgery prices becoming astronomical in today's economy, the allure of medical tourism is ever-increasing. Tragically, many people tend to paint a negative picture of traveling for that extra nip/tuck, with horror stories that range from ill-trained physicians to organ harvesters.

Invest Barbados today announced that a new world-class hospital will be built on the site of the former St. Joseph Hospital as part of a long-term development program that will also bring several specialty treatment centers, biotechnology research companies and patient accommodation facilities to the country over the next five years.

During this last two years, Medical Tourism has taken a very strong lead in Central America because of a sharp increase in medical services and insurance costs in the United States, the main market for patients for the world medical tourism industry, and because the incredible violence erupted in northern Mexico, that use to be a traditional medical tourism destination for north Americans.