Medical Value Travel Booms in Asia

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Medical Tourism in India

Tourists seeking medical value travel have a range of options in countries like India, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore which offer world class medical facilities at very affordable costs.  Medical tourism in India has been growing exponentially over the past few years.  Although the country faces stiff competition from stalwarts in medical tourism like Thailand, what attracts people to medical tourism in India is the variety of alternative therapies available here.  Meditation, yoga, acupuncture, Ayurveda, and aromatherapy are the highlights of a medical tourism sojourn in India. According to Dr Lloyd Nazareth of Wockhardt Hospital Mumbai,  

“India could be the medical tourism capital of the world as it has the advantage of highly qualified English speaking medical professionals and diversity of tourism. The WHO estimates that India must increase the number of hospital beds by 80,000 per annum for the next five years to meet growing demand.”   

Medical Tourism in Thailand

Thailand has been providing medical value travel to people from the US, Europe, UK, Japan, and the Gulf States for many years now.  Medical tourism in Thailand accounted for US $900 million in revenues in the year 2006.  The kinds of procedures that patients choose on their Thai holidays range from face lifts, ear surgery, and dental implants, to nose jobs, eyelid surgery, tummy tucks, liposuction, and breast augmentation surgery.  The country’s world class medical tourism centers in Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, Koh Samui, and Chiang Mai boast of foreign-trained doctors, internationally accredited hospitals, friendly people, excellent cuisine, and superb holiday spots.  These combined factors make medical tourism in Thailand a viable option.  The economies of countries that offer medical value travel are set to grow as the industry’s worth grows from US $1.5 billion to US $4 billion over the next five years.  With such high figures at stake, Asia is all set to welcome medical tourists who spend US $362 per day, in comparison to the average tourist who shells out only US$144 per day.