BOOSTER SHOT FOR MEDICAL TOURISM

Cost-effective quality treatment and infrastructure in private hospitals have led to the sector’s growth post Covid.

- P.B. JAYAKUMAR

SINCE THE PANDEMIC, Harinder Singh Sidhu, senior vice president, corporate development and head of international business, Apollo Hospitals, is going through one of the busiest phases in his career. Sidhu is busy travelling the world to add more to the 20 outreach offices of Chennai-based Apollo, the pioneer of medical tourism in India.

At Panchgani, the Bel-Air hospital campus spread over 44 acres with centuries-old trees, has a 200-bed hospital of 58 British-era heritage bungalows. In the last five-six months, Bel-Air has treated over 100 international patients, and the numbers are increasing every month.

Down South at the Uday Samudra Leisure Beach Hotel and Spa at Kovalam in Thiruvananthapuram, numerous foreigners are checking in, a rarity during the monsoon off-season. The property is one of the prime five-star hotels in Kovalam, with an Ayurveda and Panchakarma centre.

India’s medical tourism sector, which, in the past, failed to capitalise on the huge potential the country offers, is making a comeback after the pandemic. “In the next few years, India will be the medical destination of choice, even for people from developed economies,” says Prathap C. Reddy, founder-chairman, Apollo Hospitals Group, and pioneer of corporate hospitals and medical value tourism in India. Over 200 million people from across the world, including Oceania (Fiji, Samoa and Tonga), ASEAN, SAARC, CIS, West Asia, Africa, Europe, and Americas, have come to various Apollo Hospitals in India in the past for medical requirements, says Reddy.

“The medical tourism segment in India is growing at over 25% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), despite patients having stopped coming from traditional markets such as Afghanistan,” adds Abhay Soi, CMD, Max Healthcare Institute.