A study on prospective growth opportunity of medical tourism in India

Abstract

Medical Tourism is a niche sector in tourism industry where people travel to foreign countries for surgical care, alternative medicine, or physical wellness with a chance to experience the tourism in the destination country. Based on medical tourist’s arrival (MTA) survey conducted by medicalToursim.com, 90% of patients or their companions engaged in tourism activities. Though the practice has been in existence since ages, globalization, access to credible information from the internet along with various economic factors have boosted the industry showing tremendous growth. Frost & Sullivan has been projected that the Indian medical tourism industry is expected to cross $9 billion in 2019. The most demanding tertiary care treatments preferred by tourists in India are from cardiology, orthopedics, and organ transplantation fields. But people from developed country opt medical tourism for cosmetic dentistry (general & restorative), and reproductive (fertility, IVF, women's health) treatment as in most cases insurance doesn’t cover for these services in their respective country. [20] In 2008, medical tourism accounted for 10% of Apollo’s revenue, and in 2015[13] the management confirmed the share to have been around 10-15% of revenue [14], while the total sales revenue has grown from 14.8B Rupees to 45.9B Rupees. According to Frost Sullivan’s report, Apollo, Fortis and Max healthcare accounted for 41% of total revenue generated by MT industry in 2014. Apollo groups alone has served more than 1.5 lakhs of medical tourists, and Fortis has treated around 17,000 tourists during FY-2015-16. [15] These institutions are expecting the number to grow by 25% to 35% in following year (2017). Apart from conventional medical practices, Indian has also gained a reputation for alternative medicine practices like Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy driving it to be the best destination for these services. Over nine lakh foreign tourist arrived in Kerala in 2014 out of which about 30% visited for wellness reasons, and about 40% of the State’s tourism revenue was generated from Ayurveda ($1.6B). [3] While most of the policies supporting the industry were discussed further in the report, one of the major moves from the government in this sector is the provision of M-visa(medical) on arrival for citizens from around 180 countries. The arrival of foreigners in India on Medical Visa is showing an increasing trend over the years as per details are given below: [12] Also it has to be noted that no all tourist who avail medical services in India opt for M-visa. M-Visa is preferred by patients accessing serious tertiary care services and expecting frequent visit within a year.