Medical tourism is big business but still an emerging market

 10-Mar-17, Skift 

With perpetually rising healthcare costs in countries like the US or poor quality hospitals and doctors in other regions, medical tourism is thriving but many travel brands remain uncertain with how to address and market medical travel. That’s the view of Josef Woodman, the CEO of Patients Beyond Borders, an organization that connects travelers to accredited hospitals, doctors, and specialists around the world.

Image: Skift

Woodman feels that medical tourism “isn’t sexy to talk about” because most medical tourism involves routine visits to dentists or primary care physicians rather than life-saving surgeries, for example. Woodman estimates the global medical tourism market ranges from USD40 to USD60 bn with 12 to 14 million travelers taking medical trips each year for things such as dental cleanings, cancer treatment and reproductive health.

Indonesia is likely the largest outbound medical travel market. “Indonesia’s healthcare infrastructure is generally poor and about 1.5 to two million Indonesian medical travelers go to Southeast Asia or Australia depending how upwardly mobile they are,” said Woodman.

China is also one of the largest medical tourism markets as many Chinese travelers look to Thailand and other Southeast Asian destinations for better healthcare.

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