Vietnam medical tourism 'attracts customers'

(PLVN) - With the nature of a resort tourism model combining health care with traditional therapies combined with modern medical techniques, bringing relaxing experiences, while preventing pathogens, using non-invasive cosmetic treatments or surgery and intensive treatment..., medical tourism contributes to the development of Vietnam's tourism industry.

Advantages of welcoming tourists to explore and treat diseases

In recent years, in addition to exploring nature, tourists tend to improve their health, enhance their physical and mental health when traveling. According to a report by Grand View Research, the revenue of the global medical tourism industry will reach nearly 100 billion USD in 2030. Appearing and developing since ancient Greece and Rome, today, medical tourism has become a popular global service industry, the choice of millions of people who want to experience high-quality medical services at an ideal cost.

Vietnam is making strong strides in the healthcare tourism industry. Vietnam is considered a “gold mine” attracting international tourists because of its great potential in developing medical tourism.

Recently, a successful fetal heart catheterization intervention for a Singaporean pregnant woman performed by a team of doctors from Children's Hospital 1 and Tu Du Hospital (HCMC) has aroused the interest of the regional medical community. The success of the surgery not only shows that Vietnamese doctors have approached, mastered and successfully applied new techniques, but also serves as a "push" to attract foreigners to Vietnam for medical examination and treatment.

Tourists coming here for medical treatment can also explore the rich cultural and historical heritage, admire many natural wonders and enjoy the warm tropical climate. Fruits, herbs in all four seasons, and cuisine are highly appreciated by the world. Vietnam has a coastline of more than 3,200km with many beautiful beaches, thousands of large and small islands suitable for resort tourism, water sports, and medical treatment. The geological industry has discovered about 400 hot mineral water sources, which are both medicinal and can produce bottled drinking water. This further increases the attractiveness of Vietnam. This is a health and beauty care destination that few countries have.

Tourists can choose from: regular health care, recovery and convalescence, surgery and intensive treatment, dental care, infertility, methods of changing appearance... According to many experts, currently the demand for tourists coming to Vietnam to combine resort tourism and medical examination and treatment is very high, which can reach an annual revenue of about 2 billion USD. Vietnamese medicine is a combination of modern medicine and traditional medicine with high professional qualifications of doctors and physicians, so these are also the strengths of the Vietnamese health sector.

Vietnam offers affordable medical services at prices about 10% lower than in the US. Vietnam also has a significant advantage over other medical tourism destinations such as Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. For example, the cost of heart bypass surgery in Vietnam is 10,000 - 15,000 USD, while in Thailand it costs from 25,000 - 30,000 USD. Vietnam has become one of the destinations chosen by tourists to get their teeth done. The reason is quite simple. Vietnam has a much lower cost of teeth done than many other countries in the world. Specifically, according to statistics from International Living magazine (Australia), the cost of teeth done in Vietnam is 6 to 10 times lower than in some countries such as the US, Canada, and Australia. Compared to some neighboring countries such as Thailand and Malaysia, the cost of teeth done in Vietnam is also 30% to 50% cheaper. Despite the low cost, in Vietnam, the quality of dentists' skills as well as investment in equipment and treatment machines are not inferior to any country with advanced dentistry. In 2018, International Living voted Vietnam as one of the top 3 Southeast Asian countries favored by Australian tourists because of its high-quality and low-cost dental services.

Korean patients come to 108 Military Central Hospital for treatment. (Photo: An Ngoc)

Cosmetic surgery is also of interest to many tourists. The number of customers coming for cosmetic treatment at the Department of Dermatology (Ho Chi Minh City Dermatology Hospital) is increasing, especially many international tourists and overseas Vietnamese customers coming for beauty treatments. In 2020, the department received 41,490 customers for beauty treatments, and by 2022, this number increased to 58,622.

At the Ho Chi Minh City Heart Institute, in recent years, the Institute has provided specialized medical tourism service packages such as vascular intervention, cardiology... attracting the attention of international visitors for examination and treatment. Currently, the hospital has built a medical examination area for international visitors.

After 7 years of implementing the medical tourism model, Vietnam has been evaluated as successful with many achievements, remarkable medical tourism products, and many activities have been implemented with high efficiency. For example: Ho Chi Minh City has built more than 30 combo tour programs combining medical tourism and health care suitable for domestic and international tourist markets; launched video clips introducing and promoting medical tourism products in the city; updated, supplemented and adjusted the "Medical Tourism Handbook" in 6 languages with concise, clear and effective content; organized the promotion and advertising of medical tourism products to attract tourists in the Cambodian market and surveyed and learned from the experience of developing medical tourism models in Thailand...

This growth momentum is not only driven by market demand, but also by government incentives. The National Tourism Administration has identified that wellness tourism contributes to enhancing the value of destinations and prolonging the length of stay, spending, and experiences of tourists. According to forecasts, the wellness tourism industry in Vietnam could reach a value of 3 billion USD by the end of 2025, an increase of 12% compared to 2024.

Need to promote resource potential and national identity

From 2024, Ho Chi Minh City's healthcare sector is shaping up to become a modern, specialized medical center and a healthcare center in the ASEAN region. Ho Chi Minh City - the locality that accounts for more than 40% of foreign visitors using medical services nationwide - has great potential for developing medical tourism.

Ms. Bui Thi Ngoc Hieu - Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism assessed: "With the development of high-tech applications, expertise in medical examination and treatment, as well as the professional level of the medical team, the city's medical tourism products will focus on the mid-range and high-end tourist market segment to increase the experience, extend the length of stay and increase spending when combining resort tourism. Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring provinces and cities are important materials for medical tourism to become a potential tourism product. The development of medical tourism products in the next 5 years will be decisive in making medical tourism a regional brand of Ho Chi Minh City".

Exploiting resources to develop health tourism has contributed to diversifying products, extending length of stay, and increasing spending of tourists in Vietnam.

Foreign tourists come for medical examination and treatment. (Photo: HNLV Hospital)

However, according to experts, one of the weaknesses of medical tourism in Vietnam today is that there is still too little information about medical tourism services, and few travel agencies organize tours combined with health care. Many hospitals have not met international standards such as JCI or ISO, so foreign tourists are hesitant to register for medical examination and treatment services. There is not much information on hospital websites, not even in English for searching, and there are no accompanying support services, so it is difficult for foreigners to find a complete medical tourism service to use. In addition, the foreign language of nurses and caregivers is limited.

In addition, the cooperation between localities, health agencies, accommodation facilities with conditions to develop medical tourism with travel agencies is still lacking in synchronization. Most tourism service businesses such as resorts, hotels, and homestays only provide health care at the level of meeting basic needs for tourists.

Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health Tang Chi Thuong said that the tourism switchboard system and international tourism information portal must be completed soon, so that people from countries in the region can register for medical examination and treatment appointments in Vietnam. To do this, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health and related departments such as Tourism, Industry and Trade... should soon develop a project to have a specific mechanism to implement in the near future.

Vietnam's tourism development strategy to 2030 has also placed special emphasis on developing quality, diverse and distinctive tourism products, prioritizing health-related tourism types such as medical tourism and health care tourism, in order to take advantage of natural resources, culture and the talent and dedication of medical staff, promoting the value of national identity.

Thuy Duong

Source: https://baophapluat.vn/du-lich-y-te-viet-nam-hut-khach-post553298.html