A patient recovers after undergoing plastic surgery at a hospital in Seoul, Jan. 11. (Photo/Xinhua)
South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan have been pursuing the development of their medical tourism industry, capitalizing in part on the growing demand for their services among China’s nouveau riche, reports the Guangzhou-based New Express.
The policy is also in line with the expanding global medical tourism market, which has seen an annual growth rate of 20% in recent years, with the market scale topping US$100 billion in 2012, the paper said.
South Korea racked up US$187 million in revenue from medical travel in the first 11 months of 2013, up 35.3% year-on-year, while South Korean visitors spent around US$86.4 million for services abroad, down 11.2% year-on-year.
A South Korean tourism official told the paper that the nation saw 160,000 medical tourists in 2012, including over 30,000 from China.
A manager of a travel firm in Guangzhou said Taiwan and Singapore also attract many Chinese medical tourists, mainly for physical checkups, who pay a tour fee reaching up to 10,000 yuan (US$1,600) to travel to Taiwan — triple the normal rate.
Singapore and Taiwan both offer better physical examination services in terms of equipment and skill than China, the paper said, adding that the two locations are most convenient for Chinese visitors as there is no language barrier.
However, many Chinese travelers also visit South Korea to undergo plastic surgery, paying around 8,000-20,000 yuan (US$1,300-$3,300) to have double eyelid surgery, compared with 3,000-8,000 yuan (US$500-$1,300) at most hospitals in China.
Some affluent Chinese travelers will even go as far as Switzerland and Germany to undergo anti-aging treatments, at costs ranging from 200,000-1 million yuan (US$33,000-S$165,300), the paper said.
source: http://www.wantchinatimes.com / Want China Times / Home> News> Markets / by Staff Reporter / February 05th, 2014
