KUCHING: Majority of 550,000 Indonesians who visited the state last year came for medical treatment.
About 550,000 Indonesian tourists visited the state last year, many of them seeking medical treatment at private hospitals in Kuching and Sibu.
Minister of Tourism Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Abang Openg, who said this yesterday, expected to see a rise in the number of foreign tourists, particularly Indonesians, among those seeking medical treatment in the state.
“The number will increase with quality medical service at reasonable prices.
“I have seen the growth of this new approach in medical tourism in countries like the Maldives which offers great packages to patients from India, Middle East and even Russia,” he told a press conference at his office in Masja here.
He said the state’ s medical tourism industry had a promising future if private hospitals and hotels could collaborate to introduce post-treatment packages to patients and their family members.
The post-treatment package, he said, was a new trend that should not be overlooked by health and tourism industry players in the state.
Abang Johari, who is also Minister of Housing, pointed out that on the average, Indonesian patients spent four days in the state.
The number of Indonesian tourists represented 15 per cent of the total 3.8 million tourists visiting the state last year.
Sarawak, with its natural environment, was ideal for patients to be “destressed and rejuvenated”, he said, suggesting Damai and Batang Ai as part of the package.
“Sarawak is to adopt a new approach in promoting health tourism. I hope private hospitals can think outside the box. They should see beyond providing medical services.
“I want to see hotels, especially in areas like Damai, give special packages to private hospitals. At the same time, private hospitals can arrange with hotels for their patients to stay there after treatment.”
KPJ Healthcare Bhd Group director Ngeng Eng Cheng, who led the delegates from the medical group to pay a courtesy call on Abang Johari, hoped the government could reinstate the Kuching-Jakarta route.
“Last time, when AirAsia serviced the Kuching-Jakarta route, we received a lot of patients from Jakarta and its surrounding areas. We hope with the help of the Ministry of Tourism, MASwings could introduce the route.”
Kuching Specialist Hospital general manager Yasser Arafat Ishak welcomed the new Kuching-Balikpapan route introduced by MASwings.
It is expected to take off this October.
Continue reading (Incl. Pic) at: Medical tourism taking root in Sarawak
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