This is the Best Time to Promote Medical and Wellness Tourism in India: Minister Prahlad Singh Patel

by  EVENTFAQS Bureau Business Events | December 17, 2020 | News

Prahlad Singh Patel National Medical and Wellness Tourism Promotion Board AYUSH Joint Commission International

Union Minister of State for Culture & Tourism (Independent Charge) Prahlad Singh Patel has said that this is the right time to showcase India’syoga and Ayurveda to the world, and promote medical and wellness tourism, which will be the need of the hour for people affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Minister was virtually attending the fifth meeting of the National Medical and Wellness Tourism Promotion Board, constituted to address impediments to the growth of medical tourism and to provide a dedicated institutional framework to take forward the cause of promotion of medical tourism, wellness tourism and yoga, Ayurveda tourism and any other format of the Indian system of medicine covered by Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH).

Pointing out that India has 34 hospitals accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCI) and 578 under the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers (NABH) during the meeting, Patel said, “The number of hospitals under the international standards of JIC has to increase so that tourists have more hospitals to choose from. Under Ayushman Bharat, a lot of hospitals have been upgraded. So now they will be incorporated into NABH and their level is elevated to JIC levels, so that people coming to India for medical tourism have more options. Infact, even visas will be granted based on recommendations from these centres and hospitals.”

Huge global medical tourism market is an opportunity
“Medical and wellness tourism is rapidly growing. The global medical tourism market was worth $19.7 billion in 2016 and is estimated to be growing at a CAGR of 18.8 %, to reach $ 46.6 billion by 2021 (Source: Services Export Promotion Council, Ministry of Commerce). Asia-Pacific accounts for the largest share of around 40% of the global market,” he added.

The Tourism Minister said that more than 130 countries around the world are competing for a part of this global business. The popular medical tourism destinations include India, Brunei, Cuba, Columbia, Hong Kong, Hungry, Jordan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and USA, etc. It encompasses primarily and predominantly biomedical procedures, combined with travel and tourism.

He added that the total number of inward medical tourists doubled in a span of just three years in India. In 2017, around 22% of arrivals from West Asia were for medical purposes, followed by 15.7% from Africa, according to the Indian Tourism Statistics, 2018 report.