Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia Ramp Up Medical Tourism

STR reported China hotel RevPAR the week ended October 29 was down -17.1% year over year. When up against the similar week in 2019, hotel RevPAR fell -44.8%. China hotel absolute occupancy for the week was 48.8% compared with 55.2% during the same week in 2021.

The South China Morning Post published an article on medical tourism being ramped up in Asia. The article focused on Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia courting medical tourists with new facilities and programs, but Philippines lawmakers think the country could become one of the world’s top medical tourism hotspots if the government could come up with a marketing strategy. The article said this overall market in Asia could hit US$53 billion by 2028. The number of medical tourists, patients with passports, are an estimated 14 million a year and rising. Before the lockdown, medical tourists spent an estimated US$600 million a year in Thailand. Last month the Thailand government approved a project to build an international medical complex in Phuket at a cost of US$133 million as part of a 20-year strategy for Thailand to become even more of a medical hub. As well as having a 300 bed hospital, the Andaman International Medical Hub will serve as a training center and include a facility for the research and development of health services. It will also be equipped with the first advanced dental facility in southern Thailand. Malaysia was awarded Destination of the Year from the International Medical Travel Journal in 2020. The Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council wants to keep that momentum going, promot