Question : Promotion of Medical Tourism

(a) whether India is emerging as a popular destination for medical tourism and if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether medical tourism in the country is projected to be a $9 billion opportunity by 2020 and if so, the details thereof along with the current achievement of medical tourism;
(c) whether the Government proposes to bring out a new policy to promote India as a key destination for medical tourism and if so, the details thereof along with the steps taken by the Government to ease the travel processes and promote medical tourism;
(d) whether the Government is considering to integrate AYUSH streams therein and set up medical facilitation centres/medical hubs to cater to the medical tourists and if so, the details thereof along with the names of the cities where these centres/medical hubs are likely to be set up, State/UT-wise; and
(e) the details of the number of foreign tourists who visited the country for health/medical tourism along with the revenue and employment generated therefrom during each of the last three years and the current year?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR TOURISM (INDEPENDENT CHARGE)
(SHRI K. J. ALPHONS)

(a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.
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STATEMENT IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA QUESTION NO.†*30 ANSWERED ON 18.12.2017 ON PROMOTION OF MEDICAL TOURISM.

(a) & (b): Yes, Madam. India has emerged as a major Medical Tourism destination. Ministry of Commerce informs that as per a FICCI-IMS Knowledge Paper titled, ‘Medical Value travel in India: Enhancing value in MVT’, published in 2016, India is amongst the top 6 MVT (Medical Value Travel) destinations of the world which include Thailand, Singapore, India, Malaysia, Taiwan and Mexico (India ranked third in the world in 2015). It is further informed that as per the above report, through adequate focus and effective execution, Indian Medical Value Travel, pegged at 3 billion USD in 2015, can be a 9 billion USD opportunity by 2020.

(c): Ministry of Tourism has recognised Medical and Wellness Tourism as Niche Tourism Product for promotion. The Ministry offers financial support as Marketing Development Assistance, for Publicity, and for organising Wellness and Medical Tourism Promotion shows as well as workshop/events/seminars to accredited Medical and Wellness Tourism Service Providers and Chambers of Commerce, etc. A film on Medical Tourism has been produced in association with BBC and is used at various fora for promotional purposes. Medical and Medical attendant visa has been introduced to ease the travel process of Medical Tourists. The e-tourist visa regime has also been expanded to include medical visits as well.

The Department of Commerce and Services Export Promotion Council (SEPC) have launched a Healthcare Portal www.indiahealthcaretourism.com, as a single source platform providing comprehensive information to medical travellers on the top healthcare institutions in the country. This portal is available in English, Arabic, Russian and French.

(d): A National Medical and Wellness Tourism Board has been constituted to provide a dedicated institutional framework to take forward the cause of promotion of Medical and Wellness Tourism including Ayurveda and any other format of Indian system of medicine covered by Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH). The Board works as an umbrella organization to promote this segment of tourism in an organized manner and therefore integrates AYUSH streams into the purview of Medical Tourism. There are no schemes in the Ministry of Tourism for setting up of medical facilitation centres/medical hubs to cater to medical tourists. However, it has been decided to set up facilitation counters at the major airports of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Bengaluru for tourists arriving on Medical Visas.

(e): As per information maintained in the Ministry of Tourism, following are the foreign tourist arrivals in India for medical purpose during 2014 to 2016:
<pre>
Year Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs)
2014 1,84,298
2015 2,33,918
2016 * 4,27,014
</pre>
*: estimated on the basis of 7.4 million records in respect of which information on visa type was available.

The Ministry of Tourism does not compile information on employment generated and revenue earned through medical tourism.
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