Medical tourism has emerged as the fastest growing segment of the tourism industry despite the global economic downturn. High cost of treatments in developed countries, particularly in the USA and the UK, have been continually attracting patients from such regions towards alternative cost-effective destinations like Malaysia, India and other Asian countries. At present, medical tourism in Asia is in its infancy, but has an enormous potential for future growth and development.
According to our research report “Malaysia Medical Tourism Outlook 2012”, Malaysia is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the ASEAN region. Despite the global economic slowdown, it received around 22 Million international tourists in 2008, an increase of around 5% over the previous year (2007). Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand are important sources of visitors for the country.
Malaysia has one of the most developed healthcare infrastructures in the region and is considered as the paradise for healthcare facilities and hospitals. Malaysia received around 75% of medical tourists from the ASEAN region, followed by Japan and Europe at 3% each, India at 2% and others at 17% in 2008.
Medical tourism has become a major segment of the tourism industry of Malaysia because of its medical excellence with its high quality services and well-trained medical specialists. Its network of private hospitals offers comprehensive services in all-medical disciplines. Further growth will be driven by country’s low cost advantage, booming tourism industry and large inflow of patients from neighboring countries such as Indonesia. It is expected that the revenues from medical tourism will grow at a CAGR of around 23% during the forecasted period of 2009-2012.
“Malaysia Medical Tourism Outlook 2012” provides thorough analysis of the current market performance and the future outlook of Malaysia’s medical tourism industry. It acknowledges the fact that Malaysia differs vastly from other destinations in terms of cost, infrastructure, human resources, patient perceptions, competencies, and the level of government support. All these factors have been thoroughly studied in the report. In all, the report provides valuable information to clients looking to venture into these markets and helps them to devise strategies while going for an investment/partnership in Malaysia.
