Teeth fixed on holiday

HO CHI MINH CITY, 25 May 2017: Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Tourism aims to focus on travellers who want to fix their teeth.

Local media quoted the city’s Department of Tourism deputy director, La Quoc Khanh, saying dental tourism was an important part of medical tourism, a key segment the city has identified as a priority.

“The dentistry industry should come up with a list of accredited clinics to introduce to tourists through tour operators and travel agents,” he said. Read more

India extends eVisa role

NEW DELHI, 5 April 2017: India has liberalised and extended the scope of its eVisa scheme effective 1 April in a move to boost tourism to the country.

The popular eVisa, is now available in three distinct categories specifically for leisure, business and medical travel, India’s Press Information Bureau announced last week.

The e-Tourist, e-Business visa and e-Medical visas have also been extended to 161 countries for entry through 24 gateway airports, up from 16 airports earlier and three Indian sea ports; Cochin, Goa and Mangalore to tap cruise tourism potential. Read more

Vivo Bene packages health checks

CHIANG MAI, 29 March 2016: Vivo Bene Village, an 80-room integrated health centre 18 km from Chiang Mai town, in northern Thailand, sells inclusive packages featuring full resort services and a health check-up conducted by registered professional medical care professionals.

The first-class resort has a team of qualified medical staff on hand and offers a variety of holistic treatments, special diets, yoga, meditation and wellness options.

There are five value-added packages. All include airport transfers and breakfast. Some include full-board, different levels of care, free laundry, free soft drinks and therapeutic massage. One package offers two optional medical check-ups, and a 30-day arrangement provides an escape from cold climates. Read more

Chiang Mai: Be healthy stay longer

CHIANG MAI, 17 September 2015: This northern destination, famous for its cultural and adventure style tourism, is gearing up to pitch for the lucrative medical tourism market.

As part to the long-term strategy to broaden the scope of its tourism appeal, the city introduced a wellness and health theme at the Lanna Expo 2015, while hosting a specialised health hub event to explore the potential of medical tourism, on the sidelines of the expo.

The Lanna Expo 2015, which ran from 4 to 13 September, featured 1,200 booths highlighting a broad mix of products from Thailand’s northern provinces, but with a strong tourism-related perspective.

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Medical tourism at TTM

BANGKOK, 4 June 2015: Bangkok Hospital Phuket promotes 10 specialty care centres at the Thailand Travel Mart Plus over the next two days in the hope that travel buyers will make referrals.

The hospital’s business development specialist, Boontarika Kongpunya, told TTR Weekly that centres include: Colorectal Disease Institute and Advanced Cardiac Imaging Centre; Tertiary Care Centres for Bones and Joints; Institute of Cosmetic Surgery; Dental Centre; and an Oncology Centre.

There are three more centres for the modern medical care: Phuket Fertility Centre: Eye Centre (Bright View Centre): and Neurology Centre.

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Medical spot checks

FRANKFURT, 25 May 2015: Lufthansa’s chief said Friday the German airline is considering the possibility of regular spot medical checks for pilots, after one deliberately crashed a jet over the French Alps in March, killing all 150 on board.

“Unannounced checks” could be a “possible means” to ascertain whether pilots were regularly taking anti-depressives, which could provide an indication of potential psychological problems, CEO Carsten Spohr told the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

The surprise nature of the tests would be similar to the doping tests conducted in professional sport, the newspaper suggested.

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Season II: Thailand Extreme MakeOver

BANGKOK, 28 April 2015: To boost Thailand’s medical tourism segment, the Tourism Authority of Thailand invites tourists to participate in the  “Thailand Extreme MakeOver Season II”.

The competition gives participant the chance to win cash, a beauty transformation and travel in Thailand for free.

Thailand is a top destination for medical treatments and check ups due its world-class facilities and high standard of medical staff to ensure the quality of treatments and services.

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Thai medical tourism expands

BANGKOK, 10 February 2015: Kasikorn Research Centre says medical tourism is a significant revenue earner that should generate THB100 billion in revenue this year.

The bank think-tank unit said international ‘medical tourists’ will play an important role in bolstering income at Thai private hospitals. There are also spin-off benefits for hotel located close by the top hospitals.

“Our major international medical tourist markets include Myanmar, Japan, the Middle East and Europe, plus Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and China… they all have strong potential,” the bank stated.

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