Switzerland to attract more medical tourists
Switzerland’s tourism board hopes to attract more medical tourists from the Gulf region
While 70 million tourists visit Switzerland every year, not many are currently medical tourists. But the head of Switzerland Tourism wants to change that as the country sees strong potential in its medical tourism industry, especially in attracting patients from the UAE.
“At the moment, medical tourism is less than 10 percent [of total visits to Switzerland]. That’s why we see so much potential and opportunity to grow,” said Martin Nydeggar, chief executive officer of Switzerland Tourism to Gulf News.
He said that Switzerland already experiences high demand from the UAE and the Gulf region, which is why they have been chosen as potential source markets for medical and wellness services, ranging from specialised spa treatments to advanced surgery. This comes amidst an increase in overnight stays from visitors from the UAE to 340,000, up four percent in 2017.
“On the supply side, we see that a lot of hotels are building and investing in that infrastructure, so new hotels come up and not only provide classic services, but also additional services such as medical services,” he said.
Despite Germany being its top competitor for medical tourism, Switzerland Tourism hopes to take advantage of the country’s greater popularity over Germany to attract medical tourists.
“We’re trying to bring together the combination of Swiss assets with Swiss medical facilities,” said Nydeggar.
This story was originally published in the Global Health and Travel issue of March-April 2018.
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