Abstract
Medical tourism is a high-growth industry being driven by globalization and
rising healthcare costs in developed countries. More than thirty countries in
Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe are serving millions of medical tourists
annually.
Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, India and Philippines are the major
destinations in the Asian medical tourism market. Thailand is more popular
among Western European medical tourists for cosmetic surgery. Singapore and
India specialize in complex procedures with India having a cost advantage and
Singapore a technology advantage.
Global economic downturn has resulted in decline in visitor numbers in
Singapore and the same holds true for medical tourists also. The decline is
most among Indonesian patients, but is being compensated by patients from
other places such as Vietnam and the Middle East. The private healthcare
market in Singapore could witness a period of slower growth due to declining
medical tourists.
The healthcare industry in Thailand has seen rapid growth in recent years,
ahead of the country' s GDP. In Thailand, medical costs are lower than in
Singapore and also, it is a much more popular tourist destination. The cost of
healthcare in Thailand is about five times lesser than it is in the US.
The Malaysian government is aggressively promoting medical tourism. It has
extended the visa period for health tourists from one month to six months.
Major hospitals in Malaysia are targeting new markets such as Vietnam and
Cambodia.
India is one of the lowest cost and highest quality of all medical tourism
destinations. It offers low-cost cardiovascular and orthopaedic procedures, at
about one-tenth the cost of similar surgeries in the US.
Taiwan provides high-quality healthcare at very competitive prices but is a
slow starter. A liver transplant costs half as much in Taiwan as in Singapore.
China is a key target market for Taiwanese hospitals.
The Korean government is promoting the nation' s growing medical tourism
industry and has set a target of 100,000 foreign patients by 2012. However,
Korea is considered to be a latecomer in medical tourism industry.
This report gives an overview of the medical tourism industry with focus on
Asia. It discusses the major medical tourist destinations like Singapore,
Thailand, Malaysia, India, Philippines, Taiwan and South Korea and their
respective competitive advantages. The major healthcare organizations in Asia
are also profiled in the later part of the report.
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