Advertisements for Korean plastic surgery clinics crowd the walls of Seoul’s subway stations and buildings.
The number of medical tourists to Korea is expected to reach about 1 million in 2020, generating 3.5 trillion won (US$3.2 billion) in revenue.
According to the Korea Tourism Organization, the number of tourists who visit Korea for medical treatment is forecast to more than double to 998,000 in 2020 from about 399,000 in 2013.
The tourism organization said tourists’ per-capita medical expenditures in Korea this year will be about 2.53 million won (US$2,358.65) and expect it to reach 3.56 million won (US$3,318.10) in 2020, generating 3.5 trillion won (US$3.3 billion) of revenue in 2020, compared to about 1 trillion won in 2013.
The estimate is made amid the growing popularity of Korea’s high-quality medical services for medical tourists, particularly those from China.
According to the China Daily, 62 percent of 31,000 Chinese tourists to Korea last year came for cosmetic surgery with a 15-day medical tourism visa.
source : http://www.businesskorea.co.kr/ Business Korea / Home / November 13th, 2013
