Under the epidemic, domestic medical tourism ushered in new development opportunities
2020-12-31
The so-called medical tourism is essentially a new concept that integrates medical care and tourism. What is different from ordinary tourism consumption behavior is that medical tourism is mainly based on "medicine" and "touring" is supplemented. It is not only a new way of seeking medical treatment, but also a new way of traveling. Large travel agencies such as Ctrip and Tuniu, based on the huge consumer market for medical tourism, have also launched related businesses to attract domestic consumers.
Going to the United States for cancer treatment, Korean plastic surgery, Japanese medical examination, Thai health care, India buying medicine... Such projects are not unfamiliar to people. The United States, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia and other countries account for the vast majority of China's medical tourism consumer market. Hong Kong's vaccines and Taiwan's kidney dialysis are also well-known in the mainland. Cross-border medical tourism has now become an unstoppable new consumer trend.
What about medical tourism in China?
As of April 2018, China has established 4 major "International Medical Tourism Pilot Zones", including (Hainan) Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone, (Jiangsu) Changzhou International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone, (Jiangxi) Shangrao International Medical Tourism Pilot District, (Shandong) Qingdao International Medical Tourism Pioneer District), in addition, several regions represented by Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou have also taken the lead in exploring the field of medical tourism.
For example, Beijing is implementing the strategy of “bringing in” to build a foreign-related Chinese medicine medical and healthcare service base, a Chinese medicine health tourism base, and a Chinese medicine training base. In 2020, Shanghai announced the notice of the first batch of international medical tourism pilot institutions. Twenty social medical institutions were selected, 10 were pilot institutions, and 10 were seed cultivation institutions. In the past decade, the medical level of Guangzhou cancer has gradually approached that of developed countries. Therefore, many patients (especially in Southeast Asia) come to Guangzhou for treatment. Guangdong Province has spent huge sums of money to attract a large number of top domestic medical experts, which provides good conditions for Guangdong's international medical services.
What are the advantages of China's development of medical tourism?
1) China has abundant medical tourism resources. Traditional Chinese medicine is recognized by more people because of the anti-epidemic wave of 2020 being pushed onto the world stage. Traditional Chinese medicine is used in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, cancer, swelling and pain and other diseases. All of the therapeutic fields are very promising.
2) Medical expenses and medical level are important factors that determine the flow of domestic and foreign tourists. For example, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, India, etc. are welcomed by international patients due to low-cost and high-quality medical services, and China also has this Advantage. The well-known medical journal "The Lancet" published in the "Medical Quality and Access Ranking of 195 Countries and Regions in the World" in 2019, claiming that China is one of the countries with the most improved medical standards (successfully ranked among the top 50). The level of medical care is not much different, but with obvious price differences, low-cost consumption is also an attraction for many patients.
3) The medical and healthcare market opportunities brought by aging are huge. The aging of the country is becoming more and more serious. According to data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the number of elderly people over 60 in the country will exceed 300 million between 2021 and 2025. The gap in the healthcare market caused by aging will increase. Such as cancer treatment, rehabilitation medicine, circulatory system disease and respiratory system disease treatment, the future market will show an upward trend due to the increase in the number of aging people.
Under the epidemic, domestic medical tourism has ushered in new development opportunities. At present, our country is still mainly exporting tourists, but in 2020, affected by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the tightening of immigration policies has led to a long period of stagnation in cross-border medical tourism. Now with the normalization of epidemic prevention Many countries are constantly adjusting their cross-border policies to take into account both epidemic prevention and economy. Affected by many factors, the recovery of cross-border medical tourism still needs a period of relaxation.
For cross-border medical service companies, adjusting their business operations is an important means for companies to survive and achieve revenue at this stage. Under this circumstance, the domestically developed hospitals and outpatient clinics have carried part of the share of cross-border medical care, the number of patients received has increased significantly, and domestic medical tourism has ushered in new opportunities. Under the guidance of the "big health" policy, my country's medical tourism has gradually entered the large market of medical tourism destinations and the world's main source of medical tourism. According to industry analysis, China's medical tourism market will reach 228 billion yuan in 2022.
In the upcoming 16th Beijing International Medical Tourism Exhibition, multi-country medical services will be showcased. Affected by the market and the global epidemic prevention situation, this exhibition will further strengthen the development of the domestic market and the connection of resources. A series of theme meetings, summit forums, and trade fairs will be held at the same time to help exhibitors and visitors to broaden their connections, connect resources, and master Cutting-edge market information creates opportunities for the recovery and development of medical tourism in the post-epidemic era.
Medical health is a rigid demand of people. The epidemic will not reduce demand. On the contrary, because the epidemic has stimulated people's attention to health, the medical industry will have greater market space and development momentum in the future.
