Globalization of Medical Tourism –A Case Study of India

Medical tourism has come up as the fastest growing sector of Indian tourism industry in spite of the world economic recession. High cost of treatments in the western world, particularly the USA and UK, has been pushing patients from such regions to cost effecting destination to get their treatment. The Indian medical tourism industry is presently at a growing stage, but has a immense potential for future development.

The globalization of the health care sector and the huge demand for cost-effective quality treatment has drown the attention of many patient towards developing countries like Thailand, India that have the sufficient resources and potential to meet these demands. Indian site for Medical Tourism is also quite green and this is predicted to be the next success story for India after Information Technology sector. Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) forecast a growth in Medical Tourism to touch Rs. 10,800 cr by 2015.

This study explains why India has emerged as medical destination. The paper also identifies the strengths of India's medical tourism service and indicates at a number of challenges that may squeeze the growth prospect of this industry. Finally, this paper analyses and concludes the main reasons why the developing country like India attracts foreign tourists for the medical treatment.