The medical tourism industry in Malaysia is expected to achieve its targeted revenue of RM1.3bil in 2017 according to Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC).
CEO Sherene Azli said the industry was experiencing a 30% growth year-on-year. “Malaysia has the ecosystem and infrastructure to provide quality end-to-end healthcare system and services that are globally competitive,” she told reporters after the launch of ShareMyLove campaign here.
The campaign was part of MHTC’s efforts in promoting Malaysian hospitality and its excellent healthcare services.
On average, medical travellers’ contributions to the economy were double that of the regular tourists.
“On average, a foreign patient would spend about RM1,000 per visit, not including other expenditures while being in the country,” she said.
Revenue from medical tourism stood at RM1 bil in the 2016 financial year.
On prospects, MHTC estimated that one million visitors would flock to Malaysia this year, contributing up to RM5bil to the total gross domestic product.
Last year, over 860,000 medical travellers sought treatment in the country. The number was expected to grow, with more private hospitals able to cater to more foreign patients.
Private hospitals nationwide currently have an estimated 15,000 beds.
The top five treatments were cardiology, oncology, orthopedics, IVF, dental and cosmetics. Indonesia and Singapore, formed the largest chunks of medical tourists, with the industry also seeing an increase in the flow from West Asia and other Western countries.
Malaysia has been awarded Health and Medical Tourism: Destination of the Year for two consecutive years (2015 and 2016) by the International Medical Travel Journal.
/theSTAR 10,14-02-2017
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