Capture of a medical operation (Foto: Guillermo Mendo)
Medical tourism is becoming fashionable and Spanish clinics are willing to take advantage of the opportunity. The Federación Nacional de Clínicas Privadas (FNCP), private clincs federation, has set a clear goal for the next years: to promote Spanish private healthcare among foreign visitors. ‘The project is aiming at promoting private healthcare in Spain and our country as a destination linked to medical tourism’, says Juan Bosco, who chairs the project.
They understand that there is a wealth of opportunities on the field in Spain, as they consider that the country has a good reputation among the most demanded operations by tourists: plastic surgery, eye surgery, organ transplantation or treatments related to infertility and conception.
Model in tourism
‘The FNCP is mindful of the quality showed by Spanish private clincs and that our country is a worlwide model of tourism, owing to which we decided to set up a project that combines both aspects’.
In his mind, ‘Spain has a lot to offer’. ‘It is a country known all over the world due to its tourist industry, due to its geographical possibilities and remarkable offer on leisure, and on the other hand the country possesses top-of-the-range healthcare facilities at competitive prices; we are talking about ideal surroundings for medical tourism’, adds.
50 million tourists
Spain’s main competitors are Eastern European like Bulgaria and Romania, ‘where rates may be lower but services are delivered at half of the quality’. Besides, this topic has been treated on the latest OECD research, mentioning Asian, African and Arabic emerging markets.
This research contains approximative data, showing that American tourists make up up to 10 percent of the total medical visitors, and suggesting that 30 to 50 million people may annually travel abroad to receive medical treatment. Thus medical tourism is read as an industry experiencing a sharp growth, and in 2009 its turnover was to the tune of 75,000 million euros all over the globe.
source: http://www.O2b.com / Home> Market / January 02nd, 2013
