According to the Korea Tourism Organisation medical tourists from the Middle East spent the largest amount of money per person on medical services in South Korea in 2014, with those from the UAE on top of the list. This is compared to other nationalities that choose South Korea such as the Chinese, Americans, Russians, people from Asian countries as well as medical tourists from Mongolia and Kazakhstan.
The Korea Tourism Organisation says that visitors from the UAE spent an average of $16,271 on medical services in South Korea in 2014, which makes them by far the biggest individual spenders. Medical tourists from Kazakhstan and Indonesia came second and third, having spent an average of $4191 and $1,773, respectively.
The centre of South Korea’s medical tourism industry is Seoul. According to latest numbers from the Seoul Metropolitan Government, 178,519 patients from abroad sought treatment in hospitals and clinics in Seoul in 2013 – an increase of 40,607 foreign patients from 2009 – and spent $260 million. As in the whole country, the top average spend was by health tourists from the UAE, with Kazakhstan the second. The UAE spending was up 370% over 2013, the regional government’s statistics show. Most popular treatments were surgery, including cosmetic surgery, and dermatology.
While spending from Middle Eastern visitors is high, their absolute number remains low, and that is why the Korea Tourism Agency is keen to attract more Muslim tourists to the country. It has just published a halal food guidebook for Muslim tourists visiting Korea, and plans to provide a halal tourism guidebook to travel agencies, hotel managers and tourism industry officials to get them accustomed with Muslim needs.
The South Korean government has approved an annual budget of $4mn to promote medical tourism with its 3,800 hospitals and clinics involved in the sector. Projections are that the number will grow to a million a year by 2020 – with Chinese travellers representing the largest segment – and receipts from health tourism will increase to $3.2 billion in 2020 from $930 million in 2013.
Related link: Korea Tourism Organisation
©2024 All rights reserved LaingBuisson 
