As the number of foreign patients coming to South Korea to get their treatment done at low cost is consistently rising, the South Korean medical tourism industry will give tough competition to established Asian medical tourism hubs.
Medical tourism has become a hot topic for discussion among local people of South Korea as the number of foreign tourists coming in the country for both and medical treatment has been consistently rising, as reported by
The Seoul Times.
According to the South Korean government estimates, the number of foreign tourists coming for medical treatment is expected to hit 100,000 by the end of 2012.
RNCOS, a leading market research firm, has said in its report “
Emerging Medical Tourism in South Korea” that the number of medical tourist arrivals in 2008 climbed to around 25,000, an impressive growth of 56% over the previous year (2007).
Until few years back, Asia’s countable countries such as Thailand and Singapore have carved a niche for themselves in the field of medical tourism by providing world-class services and advanced methods of treatments that received extensive support from their respective governments and efforts at the individual level by medical centers and hospitals.
South Korea has been competing with established Asian medical tourist hubs, and the enthusiastic fact is that the country has become quite popular among the other East Asian countries over the last few years. Its fame has crossed the Asian region to reach as far as Russia, thanks to clean, affordable and world-class medical services.
The government is also committed to give its support for building strong foundation of the medical tourism industry so that the country gets high returns on investments and transforms it into a one of the growth engines for the overall economy.
This support will felicitate tourists landing in Korea to get assistance in finding an accommodation of their choice and select medical services which meet their expectation and budget.
The
RNCOS report has also highlighted that South Korea has benefited from its pool of professional doctors, medical staff and sophisticated technologies that lure patients from different corners of the world.
Despite being known for its cosmetic surgery, South Korea could not make any advances last year (2008) due the Medical Service Act that prohibited the introduction of medical practitioners with patients. This year is expected to be lucrative for the industry with the revised implementation of the Medical Service Act on May 1 that has empowered hospitals to adopt strategies of encouraging foreign patients to come here for treatment.
According to a Research Analyst
RNCOS, “With the government help, advancement at the technological level and low cost, the South Korean medical tourism industry is going to thrive in coming years and will emerge as the growth engine for the overall economy.”
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