Medical travellers are to leisure, what MICE is to business.
Put bluntly: they stay longer and spend more. They come for a significant amount of time, will be travelling with family, make full use of the services available - everything from room service to the spa for pre and post recuperation, and for resort hotels, may be long stay guests in this post recuperation period. They will book both by location, needing an accommodation provider reasonably close to the hospital or clinical facility, but also by brand, needing to trust the accommodation provider during an uncertain period. But how is this business captured? Only by understanding the nature of medical travellers and their needs and concerns, but also by understanding the medical travel industry, and the need for relationships with both ancillary service providers and the hospitals and facilities themselves.
Accommodation during treatment: Medical facilities and hotels
Facilities and accommodation providers both cater to the needs of medical travellers, but the relationship is still tentative
Check-up and check in
With medical travel creating a buzz as Asia-Pacific’s current “sunrise industry”, a growing number of accommodation providers are beginning to take notice. Many visitor-patients would rather recuperate in less hospital-like surroundings, after all, and since most are escorted on their travels by a family member or companion, the medical-travel industry presents significant opportunities for the hospitality sector.
Despite the obvious synergies between health facilities and hotels and serviced apartments, interviews IMTJ conducted with players from both sides in different regional markets revealed varying stages of initiatives and success. Like the medical-travel industry itself, this area of business is evolving daily as entities size up each other’s needs and determine long-term benefits. Here is the state of play in some key markets.
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http://www.imtjonline.com/zine/features/accomodation-during-treatment-medical-facilities-and-hotels
