KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12 (Bernama) – It is undeniable that the global severity of COVID-19 has posed several challenges for the healthcare travel industry as many countries including Malaysia have closed their borders to contain the pandemic.
As the nation moves towards life in an endemic environment, it is crucial that the sector takes the lessons learned during nearly two years under COVID-19 and looks into improving its practices to provide a safer and enhanced experience to healthcare seekers.
The Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) is fast working on the industry recovery plan to showcase the full potential of Malaysia’s healthcare and hospitality.
Its chief executive officer Mohd Daud Mohd Arif said the agency is “shifting gears to the digital sphere via dynamic conversations with stakeholders” to ensure a dedicated presence of Malaysia’s healthcare across target markets.
“Our current mission is to revive the sector by building upon the existing confidence and trust in Malaysia as a safe and trusted healthcare travel destination. By building trust among healthcare travellers, through constant and effective communication and also dedication to provide a safe patient experience, we are confident that we will see a more positive attitude towards healthcare travel once travel restrictions have been lifted.”
“We remain optimistic that Malaysia’s healthcare industry will rebound owing to the reputation we have carefully built over the past 10 years, our value propositions of world-class quality, and ease of accessibility and affordability for healthcare treatments,” he told Bernama in an interview recently.
Safe, Trusted Destination
Malaysia has built a strong reputation as a safe and trusted leading global destination for healthcare over the past 10 years, with patients seeking a variety of treatments in various fields, including in vitro fertilisation (IVF), cardiology, oncology, orthopaedics, neurology, dental and aesthetics, as well as general health screenings.
Therefore, MHTC aims to revive the sector by building confidence especially within target markets such as Indonesia, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Singapore and Brunei.
Malaysia has garnered numerous global accolades as a healthcare travel destination over the years and was recognised as ‘Destination of the Year’ from 2015-2017 and 2020 by the International Medical Travel Journal, UK; acknowledged as the ‘Best Country in the World for Healthcare’ by US-based International Living from 2015-2020; and consistently ranked as the ‘Top Country for Muslim Travel’ in MasterCard-Crescent Rating’s Global Muslim Travel Index since 2011.
Mohd Daud said the industry’s growth and progress are mainly attributed to Malaysia’s reputation as a world-class healthcare service provider that is easily accessible and competitively affordable.
“This is also accentuated through our strategic positioning as a Muslim-friendly nation, our warm hospitality and well-known tourism attractions,” he said, adding that among Malaysia’s competitors in the healthcare tourism industry include Singapore, Thailand, Dubai (in the United Arab Emirates) and South Korea.
He added that MHTC is also working closely with member hospitals to determine other areas or markets to focus on such as the Middle East, which further drives the importance of public-private partnerships in spurring the sector as a key economic growth driver for post-COVID-19 economic recovery.
“It is crucial for us to continue building upon the existing confidence and trust in Malaysia via the acceleration of our digital potential and services to enable continuity of care, the speeding up of (COVID-19) vaccination efforts, ensuring meaningful public-private partnerships are set in place and continued efforts to maintain awareness among healthcare travellers,” he added.
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