MEDICAL TOURISM: IS INDUSTRY INTEGRATION THE MOST EFFECTIVE CHOICE?

Interview to Monica Figuerola, general manager of  Spaincares.

Medical Tourism is a complex business that, beyond clinics, involves a value chain that includes: prescribers, facilitators; health, tourism and logistic service providers. And this is just a part of the story. Creating a medical tourism destination requires a combined approach from market analysis about therapeutic needs to tourist flows, to the definition of the different clusters of patient’s needs.

For this reason, those nations who wish to increase this market in a structured form, have created centralized bodies taking care of the strategic management of communication and development. Spain is one of them.

What is Spaincares and why was it created?

“SPAINCARES is the strategic alliance of tourism and health in Spain to offer to patients our best services for health while enjoying our excellent tourist facilities. SPAINCARES is the brand which represents the Spanish Cluster of Health Tourism, promotes the country as a Medical Tourism Destination and is formed by the most representative tourist and health institutions in the country:

• Spanish Private Health Alliance (ASPE)
• Medical Spa Spanish Association (ANBAL)
• Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Touristic Stays (CEHAT)
• Spanish Confederation of Travel Agencies (CEAV)

Regional health tourism Spanish projects are also present in SPAINCARES:

• Barcelona Medical Agency (BMA)
• Tourism & Health Costa del Sol
• Seville Tourism
• Tenerife Select
• Extremadura Health Quality

And other business associations related with health tourism like the Association of large enterprises of Health transport (AGETRANS)”

Why it is necessary to act as an integrated system (health+tourism+ services) to promote a nation as a Medical Tourism Destination?

“The alliance between this industries ensures a global and competitive service at the best possible price and quality. SPAINCARES offers more than 50 hospitals, medical spas and nursing homes to undergo a medical treatment or intervention, and many hotels to stay. Furthermore, SPAINCARES offers a variety of additional services to make patient’s and caregiver’s stay in Spain as comfortable as possible.”

What are the objectives of Spain in terms of revenues from Medical Tourism?

“Health tourism is growing in Spain at a rate of 20% per year, in both revenue and patient volume. It is estimated that the sector has brought more than 500 million euros into the country in 2015. Globally, the health tourism industry generates more than 75,000 million euros every year. Thousands of visitors arrive in Spain every year to undergo health treatments in Spanish hospitals, clinics and medical spas. SPAINCARES suggests that numbers will double in a few years (2019) to 200,000 visitors and to generate 1.000 million euros.”

Spaincares has awarded its patronage to Intercare. Monica Figuerola will be a keynote speaker in the conferences: “Internationalize Health”, planned on the 26th of May from 10 AM to 1 PM and “Assisted reproduction: which options for italian couples”, scheduled on 27th of May from 2 to 4 P.M. Bramante Hall at Palazzo delle Stelline.