Health is wealth

Medical and wellness tourism is the emerging trend around the world for 2017. Whilst securing its position as the most luxurious destination, Dubai is once again branching out to include various types of markets. As the emirate explores opportunities in the healthcare sector, Dubai is aiming to attract 500,000 medical tourists by 2020.

In 2014, His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council of Dubai, launched ‘Dubai, a Global Destination for Medical Tourism’ initiative. Guided by this ambitious initiative, Dubai Health Authority (DHA) launched Dubai Health Experience (DXH) as a brand in April 2016 to position Dubai as a global hub for medical tourism. Today many partnerships are being developed in order to achieve this target with both the government and the private sector each playing their relevant part in leading up to this score. The travel agents or medical tourism facilitators are important in this exercise as they need to coordinate with travel and hospitality.

Even at the Arabian Travel Market, this year there will be a special focus on health and wellness tourism. Currently, Dubai is using all sources to educate themselves and be among the few countries to achieve this target market. The private sector is lending their hand by organising various medical conferences with experts from around the world to discuss the roles, responsibilities and the initiatives to finally attract the type of tourists to the destination. Last year, DHA partnered with a private medical hospital as the official suppliers for the famous La Liga (Spanish football) league. This year they will be focusing on orthopedic, wellness, fertility treatments, cosmetic and aesthetics procedures. The introduction of the special 90-day visa in cooperation with General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in the UAE is another positive step forward. The insurance for inbound travellers is another aspect under the same programme.