Facilitators upbeat on prospects

Our Correspondent

The facilitators are the backbone of any industry and the medical value travel (MVT) sector is no exception. With Covid-19 playing mayhem across the world for the past two years, along with the medical value travel operators, the facilitators too were at the receiving end. Even as the sector limps back to normalcy, the facilitators are optimistic that order will be restored in the sector by the end of the year.

“The MVT Sector had a huge setback because of Covid-19 and the resultant flight restrictions. India also lost to some other key medical tourism destinations which did not close their borders for treatment. However, now our sector is bouncing back sharply and all pending patients have started traveling. Hospitals have started getting aggressive in their marketing and so has travel started for medical tourism companies,” said Mihir Vora, Founder & CEO, Magnus Medi, an MVT facilitator based at Mumbai.

Dr. SAVAD

Chairman, Global Healthcare Services Ltd.

On the revival path

Concurring with the sentiment, Chairman of Kochi-based Global Healthcare Services Pvt Ltd, Dr Savad, said that at the height of the pandemic, healthcare institutions, including top medical travel destinations, cut back on treatments they offered, suspending elective procedures and channelling healthcare resources to combat the virus.

“Now, as travel is slowly returning to normal, medical travellers have new expectations from a medical tourist destination - these patients now not only seek quality and affordability of medical care but also a medical travel destination that has put in place adequate measures to safeguard their health, given the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Dr Savad.

Mr Mihir Vora said that the priority now before MVT facilitators is to reactivate partners and resume the business. “We had already started the process from last year and companies are working hard to reestablish their lost or stopped offices/partners. Facilitators like us have started travelling and doing marketing in the offline offices and also started digital campaigns which were on hold,” Mr Mihir Vora said.

Dr Savad said that the pandemic restrictions hit both patients and hospitals in the same measure. “Hospitals over the years had added infrastructure including logistics and manpower to cater to foreign patients incurring a lot of expenses but they had to suffer losses,” said Dr Savad. When asked how he, as an MVT facilitator, would assure travellers on costs post-pandemic, Mr Mihir Vora said that hotel expenses may have gone up, but across the world it is the same. “India is still best in terms of quality treatment at the most affordable prices,” he underlined.

Dr Savad said that India is still a favorite destination of not only nationals of GCC countries, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka, but also African, Central Asian and European nations. “We have competitive rates and low waiting period,” he said and added that the country is in the league of Thailand and Singapore in drawing medical value tourists.

According to Mr Mihir Vora, Bangladesh would be our best customer in the coming days while Afghanistan which had been sending a number of patients is in limbo now. “The other markets remain the same. The government should make the visa processing and other aspects easier in such a way as to help the growth of MVT industry which is emerging from the setback caused by Covid-19,” Mr Mihir Vora said.

Mr Savad said that official promotionals by government agencies for the Ayruveda, Sidha, Unani, Yoga and Naturopathy sectors at this hour would immensely boost the MVT sector. Traditional segments like cardiovascular, orthopedic, dental and cosmetic treatments should also get the desired help to get back to the track. “We are in discussions with established players in the industry to offer quality service to tourists across various budgets and needs. With the resumption of travel, medical tourism is set to see growth by the end of 2022 at pre-pandemic levels with demand being restored,” said Dr Savad.

Mihir Vora, Founder & CEO, Magnus Medi