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A MEMORIAL
REQUESTING CREATION OF A HEALTH TOURISM TASK FORCE.
WHEREAS, New Mexico has a rich cultural heritage that
includes both traditional Hispanic and indigenous Native
American healing traditions; and
WHEREAS, New Mexico also has an abundance of
well-accepted complementary or alternative health care
therapies and practitioners, as well as state-of-the-art
conventional medical practitioners and facilities; and
WHEREAS, as many as eighty percent of New Mexico
residents and sixty percent of the population of the United
States use alternative therapies and Americans are spending
more on alternative care than on conventional medical
services; and
WHEREAS, a growing number of tourists worldwide are
traveling specifically to receive health and wellness care or
treatments that either they cannot receive in their home
countries or are too expensive; and
WHEREAS, many nations, such as India, England, Lithuania
and Mexico and the state of Hawaii are promoting themselves
as health tourist destinations; and
WHEREAS, the senate finds it is desirable for the state
to diversify the tourism base and develop its potential for
special markets such as health tourism; and
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WHEREAS, many visitors routinely make use of these
traditional healing practices, as well as complementary and
alternative health therapies, and many visitors travel to New
Mexico for the purpose of health and rejuvenation; and
WHEREAS, New Mexico is known for its great natural
beauty, as a place of rejuvenation and as a place to receive
quality conventional, complementary and alternative health
care; and
WHEREAS, New Mexico has a shortage of health care
providers in rural locations and promoting health, wellness
and fitness tourism may attract practitioners of
conventional, complementary and alternative health
practitioners to rural New Mexico locations;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE
STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the tourism department, regulation
and licensing department and economic development department
collaborate on the creation of a health tourism task force
that will bring together stakeholders on this subject to
identify strategies to diversify the state tourism base and
develop the potential for health tourism; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force report its
findings to the appropriate interim legislative committee by
December 2007; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
transmitted to the secretaries of tourism and economic
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development and the superintendent of regulation and
licensing.