Wellness board set in motion
The Ministry of Tourism assured progress in the realm of medical and wellness tourism at the 1st meeting of the National Medical and Wellness Tourism Promotion Board. The board’s framework and agenda were discussed at the meeting.
In a move to promote the cause of medical and wellness tourism in the country, the first meeting of the Medical and Wellness Tourism Promotion Board was held at Hotel Samrat and was led by
Dr. Mahesh Sharma, Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (Independent Charge) and Civil Aviation. In attendance were experts from medical, tourism and hospitality sectors, other stakeholders and representatives of related government departments, and wellness professionals.
The agenda of the meeting, as explained by Sharma, was to provide a dedicated institutional framework to take forward the cause of promotion of medical, wellness, yoga and ayurveda tourism and any other format of the Indian system of medicine. "The healthcare segment is one of the fastest growing segments in India, growing at a rate of 24- 27 per cent CAGR over the past three years," he said.
"We want to make use of our world- class facilities and affordable services. Therefore, the board's role is to act as facilitator to tap the potential of medical and wellness tourism in an efficient way," he elaborated. Expressing his opinion about the meeting, Suman Billa, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India, said, "Through this meeting, the government is attempting to bring the private sector, government officials and all the concerned agencies under one roof to figure out how, together, we can achieve something that is world class and develop medical tourism into an alternate economic engine for the country," he stated.
Additionally, it was revealed that the board plans to build up a data bank of available resources in the field of medical and wellness services in the country and to develop a mechanism to broadcast such information to source markets.