Rich Chinese medical tourists next target for Thailand

 06-Dec-16, Bangkok Post 

The figures speak volumes about the magnitude of medical tourism from China and the number of billionaires who are prepared to spend top dollar for overseas medical visits. Some 483,000 people travelled from China for medical tourism last year. They spent US$6.3 billion on treatment and a further $3.4 billion on travel and accommodation, making outbound Chinese medical tourism a $9.7-billion business.

Image: Bangkok Post

Thailand can do much to capture the tremendous opportunity from this wealthy Chinese market segment, said Diana Chou, founder and chairman of L'VOYAGE, a private jet chartering company based in Hong Kong. 

With proper promotion and publicity specifically focused on China, Thailand has strong potential to lure more ultra-luxury medical tourism trips by very-rich Chinese to Thailand and away from Singapore and Malaysia. Ms Chou pointed out that Singapore has the edge over Thailand by way of its Mandarin-speaking skills, which make tycoons from China feel more at home.

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