The Health Tourism Department of Dubai will be participating in London’s World Travel Market 2019 as part of its effort to promote the emirate’s leading position as a destination for health and wellness treatments that is recognised all over the world.
Dubai has been steadily growing in the health tourism industry and is continuing to try to improve the experience for wellness tourists and patients.
The Dubai Health Authority says that 337,011 medical tourists came to the emirate just last year, spending a combined total of AED1.163bn within the leading specialities.
These specialities include orthopaedics, skincare and dermatology, fertility treatments, sports medicine and dentistry.
The Health Tourism Department is promoting the healthcare facilities offered by its Dubai Health Experience (DXH) group members – of which there are over 70 – in the primary source markets such as Europe, Russia, China, the GCC and Africa.
Dubai Health Authority’s Health Tourism Department consultant Linda Abdullah says that the World Travel Market is an excellent platform in which to meet and network with important players in the worldwide travel market.
The participation in this year’s event is part of the strategic move to increase the awareness of the capabilities of Dubai as a health destination in the sector of travel and tourism.
The mixture of health and wellness and tourism offerings will see the contribution of the tourism sector to the economy of Dubai and the United Arab Emirates as a whole increased.
Dubai is hoping to be able to attract up to 500,000 medical tourists within two years after the support of Expo 2020.
2018 saw AED12bn recorded by medical tourism sales in the UAE, a 5.5% increase on the previous year in terms of sector sales.
The increase was driven by an increased number of medical tourists as well as by new initiatives created by the UAE government, according to Euromonitor International data.
DXH is aiming to see its comprehensive health services portfolio expanded by introducing a second medical opinion option free of charge from certain healthcare providers.
Wellness programmes, one-day procedures, and a wide range of yearly health check-ups are also available to short-stay and transit travellers at cosmetic facilities, including dentists.
As well as the promotion of the DXH brand, the Health Tourism Department is also expanding attempts to develop further infrastructure, policies, regulations and legislation to support health tourism.
Abdullah says that enhancing patient safety and the overall experience as well as the availability of worldwide talent for the delivery of first-class health services are among the Dubai health tourism strategy’s primary pillars.
The move will help the emirate to attract an even greater number of health tourists in the future, Abdullah claims.
Dubai offers a secure and safe environment that integrates health and healing relaxation services with tourist activities.
Anyone who is interested in coming to Dubai for health tourism or any other reason should take out travel insurance before they do so.
Travel insurance offers tourists the chance to protect their finances in the event of cancelled flights, stolen luggage or other unexpected events that can occur while away from home.
