Plans to create a registry of medical tourists to Mexico

The Tourism Development Commission intends to create a registry of medical tourists who go to clinics and hospitals in Mexico. The aim is to get reliable statistics.

The Tourism Development Commission (COFETUR) intends to create a registry of medical tourists who go to clinics and hospitals in Mexico. The concept is to get reliable statistics rather than a database of US medical tourists.

The plan is to begin in the northern state of Sonora and eventually implement this statistic measurement system nationwide.

COFETUR is working on the creation of a tourist observatory to distinguish the different medical services that these travellers seek.

Estimates of medical tourism numbers to Mexico vary widely from hundreds of thousands to over a million, but all are based on guesses rather than facts.

The Mexican state of Colima seeks to promote medical tourism by a reform to the local tourism law. The proposal is that the state tourism body with the ministry of health is allowed to promote medical tourism, and develop a health and recovery infrastructure. If the initiative is approved, it will promote coordination with federal, state and municipal authorities, as well as with the private and social sectors, to encourage, training and development programmes for medical service providers in the region; as well as promoting medical tourism in the state of Colima.

Data from the Federal Government’s Tourism Secretariat suggests that the main destinations for medical tourism are Tijuana, Mexicali, Ensenada, Rosarito, Tecate, Ciudad Juarez, Navojoa, Hermosillo, Reynosa, Matamoros, Nuevo Laredo, Mexico City, Monterrey, Cancun, Guadalajara, San Luis Potosí, Puebla and Querétaro.

Gang warfare and the related death toll in some Mexican states, such as Cancun, has been increasing so much that the US Department of State has issued a strong warning to potential travellers saying: “Exercise increased caution in Mexico due to crime. Some areas have increased risk. Violent crime, such as homicide, kidnapping, carjacking, and robbery, is widespread. Do not travel to Colima state due to crime.”

View the IMTJ report on medical tourism in Mexico