(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
