The Chance to Go for Medical Tourism - Essay Example

Tourism Marketing Introduction Medical tourism is defined as the travel of people to other countries for obtaining treatment in medical grounds. It is practice from the historical times. In ancient times patients came all over from Mediterranean to the sanctuary of the healing God in Greece. The Europeans travelled to spas from Germany to Nile from 18th century. In the 21st century the introduction of the low cost jet gave the growth to this industry. Other than the wealthy community, the common mass also got the chances to go for medical tourism. Traditionally people travelled from less developed countries to high developed countries medical centres for getting the medical treatment which is not present in their countries. But now day the opposite thing happens. People now travel from developed countries to third world countries for availing medical treatment because there the cost of having treatment is much low. For example the medical cost in US and other parts of the world are increasing day by day so the citizens of those countries and the insurance companies consider medical tourism to lower their cost. Another reason for travelling to other countries for treatment is some treatments like fertility procedures may not consider as legal in their home country so they go abroad. People having rare genetic disorder, surgical cases, psychiatric issue also travels to other places for their treatment. Medical tourism has become a worldwide popular thing. It is a multi dollar phenomenon which is expected to grow in a large extent within the next few years. It is the next booming sector in many countries of the world. Often the people do touring of that place along with the medical treatment. They visit and experience the attracting places and the tourist sports of that country. In other way it can be said that by becoming a medical tourist there is a chance to combine health treatment with tropical vacations. Development of Wellness/medical tourism as destinations Medical tourism developed at a very fast rate. It started from the ancient times of Greek Roman era and continued till now in a very prosperous way. In the ancient this was limited to some specific region. But with the urbanization and development of new transport system this tourism has spreader throughout the world. Development of new spas and other types of medical treatment are also emerging in a fast rate. In 1933 America established the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). This was the main organization for medical specialist board which attracted patients from all over the world. In the present scenario of America it is seen that a huge number of patients between 60,000 – 85000 travels to America to receive medical care. Again approximately 750000 of American people travel from America to different parts of the world for receiving treatment. The European Union of Medical Specialties (UEMS) was established in 1958. This was formed with member of different national medical association of European unions. Presently the cost of medical treatment in Germany is 50% lower than that of USA (Kumar, 2010). France is one of the popular tourist places but now it is also famous for its health care. In 1960 India was a favourite place for the pilgrims. Many people came to India and came to know about the ayurvedic treatments.. It developed into a fully fledged medical tourism. Now it has become a growing sector in India. It is experiencing an annual growth of 30%. Approximately 150000 people travel to India for having medical treatment. South Korea serves patients in a large scale from neighbouring countries like Russia & Japan. In 2008 it was found that New Zealand’s surgical cost was 15-20% low than that of USA. Singapore has also developed many new health centres and hospitals. The World Health Organization ranked Singapore’s health care system as sixth best in the world and first in Asia in 1997. In 1994 Thailand established Thai Dental Council and it is the premier body of governing dental practices in Thailand. A huge number of people go to Thailand to dental treatment. Background and definition – industry The history of medical tourism is first recorded incident thousands years ago. In ancient age the Greek pilgrims travelled to a small region in the Saronic Gulf named as Epidauria from all over the Mediterranean. It was the healing god Sanctuary. Epiduaria became famous travelling destination as the medical tourism centre. Earlier Sanitariums and spas were considered as medical tourism spots. Four Thousand years ago the Sumerians build health complexes surrounding the hot spring which included flowing pools and temples. The Romans constructed resorts with thermal health spas. In the 16th & 17th centuries the Europeans developed a modern concept of pleasure resort. Sea side resorts were build in United Kingdom as the British believed that those places have real power to cure disease as they were located beside sea water and receives fresh air from sea. In 18th century patients of England visited spas because there were some places where mineral water was present and was used in the treatment of diseases like liver disorders, bronchitis etc. In India this was slowly starting by yoga and ayurvedic medicine. 5000 years ago stream of spiritual students and medical travellers came to India to discover the benefits of this practice. Medical tourism from historical perspective The social change and the rapid urbanization resulted in formation of railway, aircrafts, ships etc. It allows the people to access different regions in a short time. So the patients can move easily to different health centres of different countries. In the 20th century sun seeking and spa tourism was predominant (Ajmeri, 2006). Beaches, spas, medicinal springs, particularly in dry climate and warm water are considered as therapeutic by the process of long exposures to fresh air, sun, water. So it is easy to understand that this tourism has developed from a long time with beliefs and myth as it cures disease from natural resources. In the present age various surgical and medical treatment and cosmetic therapy and some alternative therapies like naturopathy, yoga, and ayurvedic medicine are used. In the present time countries like South America, India, East Indies, South East Asia etc offers medical treatment of very high standard with a reasonable cost (Hopkins, Ronald, Runnels and Corinne, 2010). Present popular Medical tourism Destination Difference between Wellness/medical tourism Wellness and medical tourism are an integral part of booming tourism industry. Though both these kinds of tourism are related with well-being of an individual but there are certain factors differentiating them. Wellness tourism can be defined as travelling for purpose of promoting well-being and health in the form of spiritual, physical and psychological activities. Medical tourism is often correlated with wellness tourism since in both cases health interest tends to motivate travellers (Connell, 2006). Wellness tourists are more proactive in nature and inclined towards maintaining or improving quality of life and health. Prevention is a major area of concern for wellness tourists but medical tourists are reactive by nature and travel either to diagnose disease or receive treatment. There are diverse services pursued by wellness travellers encompassing healthy diet, sports and physical fitness, weight management, beauty treatments, stress relief and relaxation, meditation, health related education and yoga. Wellness travellers can seek treatments or procedures using complementary, conventional, homeopathic, alternative or herbal medicine. In hotels there are usually special services provided to such wellness travellers including healthy menu, spa services, fitness facilities and relaxation programs. Hospitals are usually considered to be significant provider of wellness programs (Upadhyaya, 2014). Health screening, prevention and lifestyle improvement are common wellness programs organized by hospitals and wellness centres. On the other hand, retreats and resorts offer residential short-term programs in order to reduce stress, address certain health concerns, or enhance support towards lifestyle improvement. On the contrary, medical tourism is associated with people travelling across the globe for obtaining medical treatment in any country. People usually travel from less developed countries to good medical centres located in developed countries for gaining unavailable medical treatment in their communities. There are other recent trends in this particular sector where individuals travel to third world countries from developed countries due to cost issues. On the other hand, some treatments are even illegal in home country like fertility procedures (Horowitz and Christopher, 2007). In this type of tourism individuals also travel to obtain medical surgeries. The major difference is that medical tourists usually travel to fix any form of health related issues rather than focusing on lifestyle improvement. There are varieties of risks which are faced by medical tourists but the scenario is not similar in context of wellness tourists. These risks majorly include tuberculosis, paratyphoid, deep vein thrombosis, amoebic dysentery, etc. Marketing Wellness/medical as tourism destinations - Involve of marketing mix Wellness/medical tourism has gained its importance in recent years. It can be stated that there are various techniques utilized by organizations operating in this sector. Marketing in tourism industry plays a critical role as it helps to spread awareness amongst individuals. There are four factors encompassed in marketing approach such as product, price, place and promotion. Product for wellness/medical tourism is the facilities offered to tourists in the form of health treatment, spa services, yoga, herbal medication, etc. These services are usually provided by a significant body such as hotels, resorts, hospitals and health centres. Tourists have different motive while participating in wellness tourism in comparison to medical tourism. Marketing activities are designed in such format that such hidden motives of individuals are successfully met. On the other hand, price is an important factor in the entire procedure. This is simply because effective pricing strategies help to attract large volume of tourists to a specific destination. In wellness/medical tourism, cost-plus pricing strategy is incorporated into the system. Through this strategy individuals can be charged affordable rates by summing up total operational costs and adding a certain profit percentage (Phua, 2011). In most scenarios it is observed that wellness or medical tourism is mainly suitable for upper middle income group or upper income group. The place factor resembles the location where such services are delivered to end users. It is greatly dependent on three main players such as tour operators, hotels and integrated hospitals. The wellness or medical tourism related services are distributed through these players (Burkett, 2007). Promotion is a key factor for spreading awareness but same techniques of tourism industry cannot be used for wellness or medical tourism. In this sector, promotion is usually done through newspapers, health magazines, billboards in health clubs or hospitals, leaflet distribution, etc. These promotional measures facilitate faster reach to target audience. Marketing tourism opportunities and obsolete in Wellness/medical There is great deal of opportunities prevalent in market place in context of tourism. Simultaneously wide array of marketing opportunities are also available which helps to promote tourism in global market. It can be stated that general techniques used for tourism marketing cannot be utilized for wellness or medical tourism. The reason behind this is target audience in case of general tourism sector is different in relation to wellness/medical tourism. Tourism is a booming sector in present scenario and various innovative mechanisms is adopted to attract target group. However traditional tool used to promote tourism will not be effective for wellness or medical tourism since services offered are different. Social networks are largely used by firms operating in tourism industry as wide base of individuals can be reached through this method (Horowitz and Rosensweig, 2008). On the contrary this method is obsolete for wellness or medical tourism since target audience cannot be reached by utilizing this platform (Datta and Krishnan, 2008). Hence it can be stated that some areas appearing as opportunities for tourism industry is not similar in case of other form of tourism. The other opportunities are rising income level of customers and inclination towards spending more time with family. These market opportunities cannot be explored by wellness or medical tourism as limited group of individuals prefer to visit destinations offering health or lifestyle improvement services. In this scenario, individuals need to be attracted by marketing such services in areas where hidden demand in relation to this sector can be effectively identified (Smith and Kelly, 2006). On the other hand, traditional media provide lots of opportunities to tourism industry as influencers or initiators normally view such advertisements. However this platform is not suitable for wellness or medical tourism as importance of its message is often not conveyed appropriately to target audience. This in turn increase overall costs of this particular tourism sector but do not deliver desirable results. Example of Wellness/medical tourism A range of services involved in medical tourism like surgeries, cosmetic care, treatment of cardiac, dental, eye, orthopedic, psychiatric etc. Central American countries like Argentina, Brazil, and Costa Rica are famous for cosmetic treatment. Many American patients visit those places for receiving this treatment. Mexico is popular for dental care in medical tourism. It is estimated that approximately 40% of medical tourism of USA comes from dental work. In Asia, India is among the top three medical tourism places (Mueller and Lanz, 2001). This is mainly because of the low treatment costs, highly skilled doctors. Chennai, Mumbai, Goa, New Delhi and Ahmadabad are popular medical tourism destinations in India with many popular hospitals. Cardiology, orthopaedic, nephrology, oncology and neuron surgery are some of the famous medical treatment done in India. Wockhardt Hospital has a chain of special hospitals at Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata, Nagpur, Hyderabad etc; this hospital is associated with Harvard medical international. So this hospital gets the advantage of extreme learning experience from Harvard medical college. Thailand is famous for its outstanding medical care. It also has attractive locations and economic holiday packages. One of the biggest hospitals in Thailand is Bangkok Hospital. It provides tertiary health care. This hospital has world renowned doctors, efficient nurses. The Bangkok heart hospital has accreditation of JCI. Singapore has huge number of spas and hospitals which helps to develop their medical tourism. Among these hospitals the famous ones are The Raffles Hospitals which use the most advanced technology of services and infrastructures. The National Heart Centre Singapore is famous for its cardiovascular treatments. Yearly more than 85000 people come here. Outside USA it is the first heart centre to be accredited by JCI (Joint Commission International). Nine hospitals, 2 medical centres of Singapore have got accreditation from JCI. First Womens Heart Health Clinic (WHHC) started in Singapore in 2011 by the University Heart Centre Singapore (NUHCS). It serves only woman. Some Singapore hospitals and clinic use traditional Chinese medicine. This attracts a lot of patients to do their treatment there (Goswami, 2007). Cosmetic surgeries like skin treatment, hair removal are very famous there. Health spas are a major part of Singapore’s medical tourism. Future development Now a day health care has become a global issue. Patients all over the world choose their specific places for doing treatment based on availability, accessibility and affordability. With the advancement of the technology and urbanization medical tourism increased a lot. The places like India, Singapore, Thailand, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Mexico etc who are well known for their medical tourism have attracted a huge numbers of patients from all over the world. Presently a development in hospital sector is observed which is expected to grow much in the future with the help of foreign currencies which comes with the patients across the borders. Many new healthcare options are discovered and developed continuously (Umamaheswari, 2008). With the popularity of this tourism attracts the foreign investors to invest in those places which are popular in this industry. This will lead to the overall development of those countries. Private hospitals will grow much for capturing the market. More efficiency and effectiveness will develop regarding new medical treatment. With the increase of the number of patients the tourist’s sports of the countries will be more in a highlighted stage. This will develop the overall tourism business of the nation. The development of the medical tourism will lead to the development of the hotel industry. Conclusion Medical tourism is one of the important ways to develop tourism and money of the nation. It is a new emerging international business. The countries need to invest more on the things supporting medical facilities and tourism of the countries. This business is not very different from off shoring services. With the higher expertise and investment this tourism will provide more superior medical services. The fast developing medical tourism demands left the legislature and policy of the nation behind. This is because some of the medical treatment is illegal in some countries where as they are legal in other countries. Patients travel nationally and internationally to get best medical treatment at a low cost. This tourism is now going through an exciting phase. Here along with the international activities, intra regional travels are taking place. This initiates the business houses of this industry to become more active for achieving more from this business. This forms a reason for discovering new ways of doing treatments. People involved in medical tourism feel that a great deal of potential still now is unstrapped. Asia is believed as the most popular destination in this tourism. Among all the countries of the world India, Thailand & Singapore are most important in terms of the cost of treatment. Among these three Thailand offers a better and smooth tourism facility than India. Often patients coming for medical treatment get indulged in travelling that place which initiates in the growth of medical tourism. USA ranks next to these countries. Germany, Malaysia, South Africa Mexico, Costa Rica and Brazil come under top ten destination of the world in medical tourism. These places attract more patients because the cost of treatment in these countries is very low compared to other countries of the world. There are also many skilled doctors available to serve the patients by giving the best treatment. The hospitals are very good with all modern technologies, infrastructure, and environment. With the help of medical tourism the economy of the nation also develops as a lot of foreign currency flow in. References Ajmeri, Dr. Sanjay. 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