27 Jun
Island Nations Aim to Become Medical Tourism Destinations for Older Persons
In an effort to increase tourism, island nations such as Barbados and the Philippines are launching initiative to lure older travellers in need of high quality healthcare. The International Medical Travel Journal reports that a task force for the government of Barbados will create a National Healthcare Quality Council to regulate private product and service providers in six sectors, including universal access to tourism products and services. The target market is seen as “ An aging population with increasing demands for cosmetic surgery, spas and retirement communities.” Head of the Barbados Departmetn of Tourism Richard Sealy, has said that health and wellness tourism is growing faster the general tourism and Barbados plans to develop its health and wellness market. A recent study by the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) found that Barbados needs to do more to capitalize on this profitable niche market. Filipino legislators are also working to promote medical travel, a global industry that is expected to be worth $188 billion within the next three years, according to the Manila Bulletin. The Philippines is developing medical tourism under the initiative of the Department of Tourism. While the Philippines has had medical tourists for three decades, numbers have recently risen from 60,000 foreign patients in 2007 to about 100,000 foreign patients in 2008, bring in about $350 million since the program was launched in 2006. The Department of Tourism expects the Philippines to have 200,000 foreign patients by 2015, generating $3 billion. In the central Philippines, there are now 44 hospitals and health facilities accredited for medical tourism by the Department of Health and the Department of Tourism. Three of these medical facilities have been accredited by the Joint Commission International , an international organization providing accreditation for hospitals and other healthcare facilities worldwide.
