Category Archives: Medical Tourism/Health Tourism

In an effort to expand the niche market of medical tourism, The Palace and The Victoria hotels have teamed up with private hospitals, Prestige Cabs and Linda Briggs, one of the most established companies specialising in medical tourism in the UK.

Linda Briggs Ltd will be bringing over tourists needing medical treatment who will stay at The Palace and the Victoria hotels for pre-surgery and eventually complete recovery. In certain instances together with patients, Linda Briggs will be bringing over leading surgeons from France and other European countries.

Together with its local partners, Linda Briggs Ltd will be promoting Malta as a five-star medical destination, offering a complete service to patients needing surgery. As part of an added service to customers, Linda Briggs will also be offering a special insurance cover with Lloyds of London that will cover travel and some costs related to surgery, as well as any emergency treatment needed in Malta during recovery.

Linda Briggs said: “For this venture to succeed, we needed partners who are committed and who will leave no stone unturned to provide the high level of service that is expected in this sector.”

The Palace and Victoria hotels manager Kevin Callus said medical tourism was a global business that was increasing in popularity, especially in southeast Asia, India and Europe. Malta is the latest country to embrace this sector due to its unique selling propositions.

source: http://www.timesofmalta.com / TimesOfMalta.com / Home> Business / Sunday – May 04th, 2014

(Photo/People’s Daily Oversea Edition)

Medical tourism is a new way of integrating leisure travel and medical services. Statisticsshow that worldwide number of medical tourists increased from 20 million in 2006 to 40million in 2012. They may spend 10 times what the ordinary tourist will while traveling, oreven more.

In South Korea medical tourism, and especially cosmetic surgery, has won an internationalreputation. Statistics produced by the Justice Department in Korea show that the numberof foreign travelers who have received medical services in Korea increased from 2,545 in2011 to 15,688 in 2012 and to 25,176 in 2013. Thailand, India, Singapore, Malaysia and thePhilippines are the top five destinations for medical tourism in the world. The medicaltourism industry in China is still at the beginning.

The situation may improve very soon. In August Hainan government invested $27 millionto build an International nursing home in Sanya. It also plans to establish a Chinese healthcare center and promote a number of Chinese Traditional Medicine brands to make Hainana new international destination for medical tourism.

Like South Korea, known for the plastic surgery, Thailand, known for dental services,Switzerland, known for anti-aging services, and U.S., known for cancer treatment, Chinaalso boasts a wealth of medical tourist resources. Jia Xiaofang, spokesperson for the ChinaInternational Medical Tourism Association said that China has a lot of advantages in termsof developing medical tourism, including a high level of technology, lower prices, andChinese Traditional Medicine.

Hainan has now launched the TCM travel tour in China and has welcomed tourists fromRussia, Sweden, UK, USA, Italy and Kazakhstan. Tourists generally come to Hainan inwinter or spring, and spend two weeks receiving acupuncture and Ai smoke therapy, andalso enjoying the beach in the sunshine. Some travel agencies prepare medical travelpackages structured according to the health needs of individual clients and provide airtickets, visa, hotel and translation services. By March, more than 30,000 foreign touristshad received TCM services in Hainan, each spending an average of about $20,000 on theirmedical services。

The article is edited and translated from 医疗旅游，中国开始“探路” , source: People’sDaily Overseas Edition, Author: Yin Jian

source: http://www.english.peopledaily.com.cn / Peoples Daily Online / Home> English> People’s Daily Online Exclusive / April 29th, 2014

Victorian hospitals are likely to start treating more overseas medical tourists in coming years after the Victorian government announced a $17.8 million plan to boost health exports including medical services, research and workforce training.

The Global Health Melbourne Plan says Victoria should be marketing its public and private hospitals to fee-paying tourists to support ‘‘increased service delivery and to enable the purchase of the latest health technologies, such as new MRI scanners and genetic testing equipment that will benefit all Victorians’’.

It also says that, if public hospitals are meeting service targets, they may choose to pursue international opportunities ‘‘particularly in areas of specialised surgery and medical capability, which international health visitors may not have access to in their home countries’’.

The report, which highlights opportunities to export health system policy and design, construction and workforce training as well as medical conferences, comes after the Victorian Government approved a 60-bed private hospital within the new $1 billion Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre, due to open at the end of next year.

Health Minister David Davis said allowing privately paying tourists to use Victoria’s public hospitals would not affect Australians’ access to them. ‘‘This would always be additive, it would always be additional capacity,’’ he said.

source: http://www.theage.com.au / The Age, Victoria / Home> Victoria / by Julia Medew, Health Editor / April 30th, 2014