INCON13-MKT-038

A STUDY ON MARKETING STRATEGIES ADOPTED BY MEDICAL

TOURISM INDUSTRY
Mr. Vaibhav S.Kale Mr. Amar B. Sathe
Assistant Professor, Assistant Professor,
Sinhgad Institute of Business Administration Sinhgad Institute of Business Administration and
and Computer Application, Lonavala. Computer Application, Lonavala.

Abstract:
It rural or remote area where the medical facility is poor, patients started to travel to the
town or city to obtain the health where the good medical facility offered. But the intention of
patients is only to get good treatment the same is applicable for medical tourism abroad. It is
interesting to note that here in rural area patients would like to pay more and get required
health but in the case of medical tourism abroad, patients are getting an opportunity to save
cost, enjoy travel across the world. There are five important concerns of medical tourists
visiting India; these are the quality of treatment, connectivity, the cost of treatment, the ease
of access and the ease of purchase. The cost of treatment in India is 1/10 of cost of treatment
in abroad. This paper will focus on innovated strategies for medical tourism.

Keywords: Medical tourism, strategy, innovation.

Introduction:
Medical tourism sector is growing service sector in India now a days. This sector is serving
various proposes including medical treatment, cost saving, tourism etc. As India is providing
a better medical treatment at low cost, thus it will be the huge hub in medical tourism
industry in commencing few days, provided government and the medical tourism industry
should take initiative to promote it. The government should take steps in the role of a
regulator and also as a facilitator of private investment in healthcare. Mechanisms need to be
evolved to enable quicker visa grants to foreign tourists for medical purposes where patients
can contact the Immigration Department at any point of entry for quick clearance. Tax
incentives to the service providers, import duty reduction on medical equipment, committees
to promote and foster medical tourism are some of the initiatives that can be undertaken.
Almost all the large hospitals considered were either Government or charitable hospitals, but
now days various private hospitals have come up with excellent medical treatment including
best infrastructure, facilities etc.

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The health tourism Industry is witnessing a sudden paradigm shift in last five year. All
sectors in India are undergoing a change from unorganized to an organized structure. Till few
years ago healthcare delivery was sole responsibility of Private practitioners and Doctor
owned and run hospitals. Patients are discovering high quality, low cost care and excellent
customer service in overseas locations. Increasingly, patients are travelling for “complicated”
surgeries, including cardiac and orthopaedic. This builds on the established phenomenon of
medical tourism for cosmetic and dental surgery. Media coverage has attracted attention to
medical tourism, while medical travel facilitators have sprung up to help patients and
companies go abroad. Thailand, Singapore, Dubai, India, the Philippines, Malaysia and
others are incorporating medical tourism into their economic development strategies.

Medical Tourism:
Medical tourism is defined as the practice of travelling to another country to obtain health
care. The basic idea is that people travel to another country for health care based on two main
reasons; price and/or quality. Other significant factors include convenience (one-stop shop),
availability of traditional Chinese medicine, and of course, service. According to grail
research report August, 2009 , “The Rise of Medical Tourism” - It has been observed that
In 2007, more than 750,000 Americans travelled abroad for medical procedures also the cost
of treatment in India is 6%-21% (% of US cost)1,b,c
“A study of problems and challenges faced by medical tourists visiting India” in 2011, says
that there are five important concerns of medical tourists visiting India at the pre-procedure
stage. These are the quality of treatment, connectivity, the cost of treatment, the ease of
access and the ease of purchase. Quality of treatment and ease of access were relatively more
important. Except for connectivity, there was a significant difference in what the medical
tourists expected and what they experienced. India should increasingly make use of this
factor to promote its medical tourism products to its targeted segments. Gap was largest in
case of facilitation and care followed by behaviour of staff and Professionalism in
management of hospital. Thirdly the respondents expect hassle free post procedure period.
The other reason that seems to be more relevant of emerging Pune as the hub for medical
tourism is its connectivity with national and International destinations. With this there are
some well known hospitals which have established the repute at national and international
fora. To name few hospitals like Aditya Birla Memorial Hospital, Ruby Hall clinic, Apollo

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Hospitals etc, are such hospitals which are well equipped with latest medical technology and
provide medical facilities at cost effective prices.

Some of the corporate hospitals in India that lead the medical tourism revolution are:

Apollo Hospitals
Wockhardt Hospitals
Fortis Healthcare
Leelawati Hospital
PD Hinduja National Hospital & Medical Research Centre
B.M.Birla Herat Research Centre
Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital

Review of Literature:
In 2012 Paul TJ James in his research paper the Impact of Medical Tourism on Thai Private
Hospital Management: Informing Hospital Policy, concluded that future research is needed to
Help hospitals provide appropriate service patterns and appropriate medical products/services
that meet international patient needs and aspirations. However, medical tourism has not been
clinically defined in terms of the economic impact as there is little data that directly links
patients with medical tourist notions.
In 2012 Irfan Ahmed Ansari in his paper SWOT Analysis of medical tourism in Varanasi,
found that firstly there is no proper medical visa policy. Some 80% of foreign patients
coming to India are from the neighbouring countries and from Iraq, Afghanistan, the former
Soviet Union, etc and now increasingly from Africa. Inaccessibility to good medical facilities
and hospitals Long waiting time to undergo a surgery/treatment and also concluded that The
Medical Tourism Industry in India As well as in Varanasi is grossly underutilized or
untapped in case of Tourism development where the Government both Centre & State may
come out with a progressive policy on Medical Tourism which helps to create health
Infrastructure through the inflow of medical tourist to various regions to India specially
Varanasi which is in the hotspots of Naxal the adjoining areas in the city are subjected to
serious health constraints even P.H.Cs (Primary Health Centres) lack doctors & medical
staffs.
In 2012 Shikha Rastogi Garg and Anu Bhardwaj in the paper Indian medical tourism
industry: growth opportunities and challenges found that there are some challenges like

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Processing of medical visas, registration of tourists a screening processes for certain

nationalities takes more than expected time, delayed response to the promotion of the Indian
health tourism industry is the lack of infrastructural facilities like good roads, connectivity,
proper sanitation, power backups, availability of accommodation (Rest/ Guest Houses) and
other public utility services, There is presently no international legal regulation of medical
tourism.
In 2011 Aparna A. Mishra and Jitender Kumar Sharma in their paper A study of Growth &
Issues in Medical Tourism - Indian Context, found that Volume of medical tourists visiting
India is low as compared to other countries like Panama and Thailand as there is neither any
additional benefit in the form of relaxed visa rules exist nor any special ticket concessions
extended to the medical tourists also the cost of treatment to foreign nationals is more than
that offered to Indian, the Coordination between pure tourism Industry and medical tourism
industry is not up to mark. They also concluded that the problems and issues in Medical
Tourism, this sector is bound to grow as there is growing need and demand for medical
tourism.
In 2010 Jason Behrmann and Elise Smith in their paper Top 7 Issues in Medical Tourism:
Challenges, Knowledge Gaps, and Future Directions for Research and Policy Development,
identified that important ethical and policy challenges associated with medical tourism, such
as analyzing the growing heterogeneity of the industry.
In 2010 Saptarshi Dutta, Mukul Sengupta and Susanta Kumar Rout in the article Scope and
Management of Medical Tourism in India concluded that India is presently earning $ 333
million. But to provide brighter prospects for the industry, the hospitals can also acquire
international accreditation, integrate traditional and clinical treatments and offer end-to-end
value added services by tying up with tour operators, airline carriers and hotel companies
which is not there in Indian medical tourism.
In 2008 the Conference on Tourism in India Challenges Ahead, IIMK, on “The key issues
and challenges in medical tourism sector in India” (A Hospital perspective) - Dr. R Gopal*
found that the main driver for patients to visit medical tourists countries like India, Singapore
etc is the high cost of the treatment as well as the long waiting period In India as compare to
USA the difference in the cost of treatment varies from 10 to 68 %.

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Conclusion:
This study reveals that Medical tourism have a direct positive relationship with the marketing
strategies adopted by medical tourism industry and the role of government. There is problem
for tourist in getting proper information, guidance coming to India for medical tourism.
Medical tourism industry must focus on innovative marketing strategies for medical tourism
industry. One of the innovative strategies is to adopt MIS in medical tourism. There is
significant contribution of medical tourism industry in the Indian economy. Tourist gives
preference to India for medical tourism because of low cost of treatment.

References:
1. Paul tj james (2012).The impact of medical tourism on thai private hospital management:
informing hospital policy, Vol. 4, No. 1
journal.ccsenet.org/index.php/gjhs/article/download/13991/9712Connell, J. (2006).
2. Irfan Ahmed Ansari(2012). SWOT analysis of medical tourism in Varanasi, Vol.2 Issue 3,-
zenithresearch.org.in/.../15_ZEN_VOL2_ISSUE3_MARCH12.pdf
3. Shikha Rastogi Garg and Anu Bhardwaj (2012). Indian medical tourism industry: growth
opportunities and challenges, Volume 1, Issue 1- mdegq.com/assets/doc/post-13.pdf
4. Joseph S. (2012).A Bootstrapped Realm- Ayurveda: The Strategy for Sustainability and
Development for Medical Tourism in Kerala.
www.webmedcentral.com/wmcpdf/Article_WMC003080.pdf
5. Aparna A. Mishra and Jitender Kumar Sharma.(2011). A study of Growth & Issues in
Medical Tourism - Indian Context. Vol.1,Issue.IX www.ataland.com/Files/Articles/z4.pdf
6. Suman kumar dawn and Swati pal (2011). Medical tourism in India: issues, opportunities and
designing strategies for growth and development. Vol.1 Issue 3-
zenithresearch.org.in/.../16%20SUMAN%20KUMAR%20DAWN.pdf
7. Jason Behrmann and Elise Smith (2010). Top 7 Issues in Medical Tourism: Challenges,
Knowledge Gaps, and Future Directions for Research and Policy Development, Vol. 2, No. 2-
www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/gjhs/article/download/.../5873