Doctor Guide
The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on May 28 that a combined number of medical tourists from 2009 reached 900,000, which includes 267,000 foreign patients last year, and the figure is expected to surpass 1 million within this month. The accumulated medical costs amounted to 1.5 trillion won (US$1.36 billion).
Thanks to the increase of Chinese patients seeking plastic surgery due to Hallyu and strengthened cooperation between governments, including the Middle East and Central Asia, the number of medical tourists has showed an annual growth rate of 34.7 percent from 2009.
Foreign patients spent 556.9 billion won (US$503.75 million) last year alone, and about 30,000 jobs were created. Based on this, various jobs in not only medical services but also other service sectors, including transportation, accommodation, restaurants, and interpretation, will be created, and it will lead to the creation of added value.
However, Korea needs to win competition with other countries with strong medical infrastructure. As Thailand attracted 2 million medical tourists a year, the size of the medical tourism market exceeds 4 trillion won (US$3.62 billion). More than one million patients are visiting Singapore a year, and late starters India and Malaysia also show a double digit growth rate every year. Also, 200,000 patients a year are visiting even the Philippines, which started its medical tourism business in 2010.
In a bid to strategically foster the industry, these countries are carrying out active supporting policy, which includes tax exemption and minimization of regulation, along with large budget.