Better marketing for medical tourism
Medical and wellness tourism in India has grown exponentially, but it needs marketing and promotion to beat competition. TRAVTALK catches up with some stakeholders on the sidelines of IIMTC 2016 in Hyderabad.
IIMTC has been a remarkable chapter in our thrust to acquire substantial segments of the global wellness market. The interactions with medical tourism industry have been crucial in re-aligning our strategies to match the contemporary wellness demands with the emerging trends. Our association with IIMTC is a part of a wellness information initiative, through which we aim to communicate the philosophy of wellness. Wellness will occupy a much broader dimension in the coming years since changing lifestyles is leading to imbalance in an individual's physical and mental health.
I feel the medical tourism industry is an under-utilised space which has a very high potential to be a major revenue earner for India. International travellers come to India for minimum of 10-15 days and spend around $4000-$5000 only on wellness packages apart from the logistics. Rejuvenation and yoga packages do very well for travellers from the UK, USA and the Middle East. IIMTC helped us connect with various medical doctors, medical tourism facilitators from diverse backgrounds.
Medical and wellness tourism is going to grow many folds in India. The share of wellness tourism is going to further increase among health tourism. Travellers seeking wellness tourism often inquire for dentists, ophthalmologists and cosmetic surgeons in India. IIMTC was a great platform to connect with people from different countries particularly from CIS countries and from Oman. We could meet many potential partners in healthcare and travel field from different parts of India as well.
The medical and wellness tourism segment is growing exponentially and it needs more focus and better marketing at various platforms. I feel IIMTC is a good initiative as it allows for networking with international clients from across the world. We were able to introduce our products and advise buyers on the host of services available in India for this segment.
A high number of travellers coming to India for medical and wellness tourism are from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Africa, Middle East and CIS countries. South India, specifically Kerala tops as a wellness destination. The average duration of stay is one week and their spend ranges from ` 50,000 to ` 1,00,000. However the medical visa is a major challenge as there is no clarity on it.
Medical tourism needs to be treated independent of tourism. Areas that need improvement include professional management of healthcare centres, cleanliness and better patient services. Introduction of ranking for hospitals based on the standards of hospitality, service, presentation, state-of-the-art technology, skills of the specialists needs to be done. IIMTC facilitated networking between Indian hospitals and medical tourism facilitators and it would have been better if there were more foreign delegates and representation.