The term, 'Medical Tourism' can easily be defined
as travel for the purpose of medical reason. This is the most recent
trend, which is gaining prominence in our country.
The key 'selling points' of the medical tourism industry are its "cost
effectiveness" and its combination with the attractions of tourism. The
latter also uses the ploy of selling the "exotica" of the country as well
as the packaging of health care with traditional therapies and treatment
methods.
After popularizing 'Yoga' and 'Ayurvedic massages' in the west, the
country is all set to lure the western traveler with state of the art
technology and top - class medical expertise at attractive prices for all
the major surgeries. The infrastructure in some of India's hospitals is at
par with those of western developed countries and the cost of surgeries is
just one third.
In the recent past, the quality of medical surgeries being performed in
India have gained popularity in the West not only for their expertise but
also for the fact that they are cost-effective.
With a large pool of highly trained doctors and low treatment cost,
healthcare aims to replicate the Indian software sector's success.
The slogan, "First World Treatment" at "Third World Prices" is thus now a
major selling point of this industry.
Some of the important established names in this field are the Apollo
Group, Escorts Hospitals, Jaslok Hospitals and Lifeline Dental Clinic.
