Five ways in which the IMTJ Medical Travel Summit is different

What makes the IMTJ Medical Travel Summit so unique? Discover how the 2017 Summit will differ from other events within the industry.

I checked the IMTJ Event Calendar this week….. How many events were scheduled in the medical travel sector in 2016?

Think of a number. You’ll probably need to double it!

The answer… 41.

In what is a small but growing business sector, that’s a phenomenal number.

So, what makes the IMTJ Medical Travel Summit 2017 different and why is it worth attending?

Here are five things that make the IMTJ Medical Travel Summit stand out from the crowd.

1. Fact not fiction

What you will not hear at the IMTJ Medical Travel Summit:

“The medical-tourism market is set to become a $3 trillion-dollar industry by 2025”
“The medical tourism market is experiencing exponential growth”
“The buyers? They’re just everywhere!”
What you will get is an honest assessment of what’s going on in this over-hyped market. No outrageous claims, no false promises. You’ll hear from people who have deep knowledge of the sector, and how they are overcoming some of the challenges that we face.

2. People who know…. about medical travel

IMTJ is not a conference business. We are about sharing our knowledge and insight of a complex market. We are not a conference organiser that saw an opportunity to run another event, and trawled the speaker lists on other events in the sector to build a speaker list. We think through our agenda. We seek advice from our network of experts. Our speaker faculty represents around 1,000 years of experience in the medical travel sector! We bring in event production professionals to make our Summit a memorable event.

3. Quality not quantity

We don’t “pile it high, and sell it cheap”. We don’t believe that the biggest is the best. If we attract 400 delegates (as we did in Madrid in 2016) that’s fine. We want to ensure that our delegates get great content, great networking opportunities and have a great experience. Creating a worthwhile conference programme takes time and effort, so we charge a bit more.

4. An open door not a closed environment

You may have heard the stories. Conferences that turn people away or block entry to a conference because the organisers are fearful of competitors or don’t like to hear a contrary view… Conferences that impose restrictive clauses on speakers.. “You can speak here, provided that you don’t speak there”.

The IMTJ Medical Travel Summit is open to all.

5. Buyers who buy, not hosted buyers who don’t

Ah…. the “Hosted Buyer” programmes that are used to encourage Suppliers to pay money to meet these people. From my experience of a multitude of such programmes, here is the kind of Hosted Buyer that I frequently meet:

  • The Buyer who is not a buyer at all! Who is in fact a Seller, at the event to sell services to others.
  • The medical tourism facilitator who has little throughput, or is a start up business that has little or no patient throughput.
  • The “Government Buyer” who isn’t responsible for commissioning patient care. He or she may work for a government, and may have an impressive title but has little say in commissioning.
  • The Buyer… too many of them… who is along for the free ride. Offer someone a free trip and accommodation in an attractive location, and “what’s not to like”?

It doesn’t mean that there will be a lack of business to business networking opportunities at our Summit in Croatia! On the contrary, there will be plenty. It doesn’t mean that people aren’t going there to do business. They are. But what we aim to attract are buyers who actually buy.

Book now and save 20%

So, take advantage of our earlybird discount. And book now to save 20% on the standard rate for the IMTJ Medical Travel Summit.

See you in Croatia.