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Mohamed Nazri: BookDoc has great potential to be a useful companion to serve the medical needs of all tourists visiting Malaysia. – Bernama Photo

The first Healthcare Online Platform in Malaysia, BookDoc, launched its web portal for tourists to have better access to healthcare in this country, as well as to support Malaysia’s medical tourism market.

Tourism and Culture Minister, Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz said BookDoc would be able to connect and unite patients and healthcare professionals at anytime, anywhere.

“BookDoc has great potential to be a useful companion to serve the medical needs of all tourists visiting Malaysia.

“It also facilitates more medical travels to Malaysia and contributes positively to all aspects of the tourism industry, in addition to private healthcare services,” he said.

His speech text was read by the ministry’s secretary-general, Tan Sri Dr Ong Hong Peng at the official launch of BookDoc – The Trusted Medical Companion for Tourists here today.

Mohamed Nazri said BookDoc could also attract more medical travels which would contribute to all aspects of the tourism industry, in addition to the private healthcare services.

“This is in line with the government’s aim to make Malaysia known as the number one destination for healthcare in Asia by 2020, offering visitors a seamless experience with Malaysian healthcare services.”

Meanwhile, BookDoc founder, Datuk Chevy Beh said in 2015, Malaysia welcomed about 850,000 medical tourists and the sector generated an income of almost RM1 billion.

“The medical tourism industry will continue to grow as Malaysia has a healthcare system that is voted one of the best in the world,” he said.

The services of BookDoc are available for free through its website, BookDoc.com, and its App, which can be downloaded for free through Google Play and the App Store.

source: http://www.english.astroawani.com / Astro Awani / Home> News> Malaysia / Bernama / April 07th, 2016

At the China International Tourism Mart held in November in Shanghai, I saw the hunger among many countries competing for Chinese visitors. The global landscape has changed.

In 1990, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia became the pioneer batch of nations granted the Approved Destination Status. Today, at least 116 have been granted this status, vying for a share of China’s outbound tourism.

Singapore received 1.72 million Chinese tourists last year, faring worse than our close rivals (“For first time in 6 years, number of visitors drops”; Feb 12). For example, South Korea received only 470,000 Chinese tourists in 2004 but six million last year, thanks to its coordinated strategies such as visa facilitation, medical tourism and K-pop branding.

With the increasing competition the Republic faces, the entire tourism industry should come together under the Singapore Tourism Board’s leadership to identify a strategic positioning of Singapore tourism.

Firstly, the Chinese are now free to travel widely. Only through distinctive brand positioning and unique destination appeal can Singapore sustain interest among Chinese tourists. Are we as uniquely Singapore as before in the eyes of tourists?

Secondly, since Singapore pioneered visa facilitation, giving Chinese tourists easier entry via innovative schemes, not much progress has been made in the past decade, while many others are catching up fast with visa waiver or visa on arrival.

Even the United States and Japan have announced plans to relax visa requirements for Chinese visitors.

With China’s outbound numbers soaring from 29 million in 2004 to 109 million last year, with a record S$223 billion spent overseas, Singapore should review visa facilitation to boost arrivals. To reciprocate Singaporeans’ 15-day visa-free travel to China would be a nice gesture in time for the 25th anniversary of diplomatic ties with China.

Thirdly, Chinese tourists are more discerning and demanding. Generic attractions such as aquariums are aplenty in China and elsewhere.

Singapore, which is facing structural challenges in tourism offerings, must regain its capability to develop innovative concepts such as the world’s first Night Safari and Formula One night race.

Strong government support and larger ownership are needed to view the industry as an important economic pillar, to deal with issues in long-term planning, manpower and funding.

Last year, China announced the ambitious US$40 billion (S$54 billion) Silk Road framework, including the development of a Maritime Silk Road covering South-east Asia and West Asia.

As an important sea hub, Singapore can lead in conceptualising regional tourism with ideas such as a visa-free zone and regional cruises, leveraging this theme with China’s backing.

Finally, a stronger currency and higher cost of living weaken Singapore’s competitiveness against rivals offering a quality experience. We must develop experiential and trusted tourism to counter the cost disadvantage.

There are still many discerning tourists willing to spend on a unique experience with peace of mind.

source: http://www.todayonline.com / ToDay / Home> Voices / by Edmund Chua Eng Heng / February 16th, 2015

New Delhi   :

Travelers heading to India from Afghanistan for cheap, high-quality medical treatment has been the silver lining for SpiceJet, the Indian airline that suffered a loss of INR 1.24 billion ($20 million) in the April-June quarter.

SpiceJet’s data shows that about 1,000 Afghan medical tourists and their relatives fly every month from Kabul to New Delhi, earning the company about INR 156 million ($2.6 million) a year based on average ticket prices.  SpiceJet said  the route is “very positive” when asked about profitability, but would not give more details. SpiceJet is the only private Indian carrier with direct flights to war-torn Afghanistan

“Demand is quite high for Delhi-Kabul flights,” said Mehtab Singh, a manager at Welcome Travels in Lajpat Nagar. “We book 20-25 tickets to Kabul every day during peak season.” The number of Afghans seeking treatment this year is 32,000, 21 percent more than last year, and is likely to increase now that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi relaxed visa rules to deepen ties. India introduced medical visas for Afghans in 2005 and Modi eased the rules on July 1,  potentially allowing Afghans to stay for two years at a time and exempting medical tourists from some police registration chores.

Afghan medical tourism is part of an industry expected to be worth $6 billion by 2018 with 400,000 arrivals. Though called tourism, medical tourism is not exactly the run of the mill tourism that most visit India for. The two-hour, 625-mile (1,005-kilometer) trip between Delhi and Kabul in Afghanistan has several risks. On July 3, the Taliban attacked the Kabul airport with rockets while a SpiceJet plane was parked there.

But Afghans still travel here because it is the best bet at getting quality healthcare at a reasonable price. “There are hospitals in Afghanistan, but the quality of medicine is the biggest issue,” says Sediq, who has brought his mother to Delhi for a knee-replacement surgery. “Getting Indian visas is easy. The alternative, Pakistan, is less secure and less friendly.” Sediq grew up watching Bollywood films like many Afghans and speaks Hindi. He paid $3,700 for the surgery, which would have cost $19,200 in Singapore and $34,000 in the U.S., according to Patients Beyond Borders. Besides, they often combine with visits to tourist spots in North India , which shares many cultural similarities with Afghanistan.

Sediq is a student in New Delhi and stays in the city’s unofficial “Little Afghanistan”, Lajpat Nagar. He hopes that flights between the countries continue, since another option for medical treatment, Pakistan, is considered unsafe due to the ongoing conflict between the Afghanistan section of the Taliban and the Pakistani armed forces.

“Once I was going home with my girlfriend at 2 a.m. in Delhi, and the cops gave me a lift. Can you imagine the same in Pakistan? There, they’d probably shoot me the moment they realize I’m an Afghan,” he said.

source: http://www.digitaljournal.com / Digital Journal / Home> Trave /  by Sravanth Verma / August 21st, 2014