KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 13): Revenues from medical services and tourist activities including the costs of accommodation, shopping and transportation are set to grow by 30% to RM5 billion in 2017, said Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC).
“This (RM5 billion) includes tourism expenditure such as hotel costs, shopping and transportation by health travellers,” its chief executive officer Sherene Azli told a news conference after the launch of the #sharemylove campaign today.
Of this total, medical tourism alone is expected to contribute RM1.3 billion this year, with a target of one million travellers from Asean, the UK and Australia.
Sherene said last year, revenue from this segment surpassed RM1 billion.
According to Sherene, MHTC’s focus to increase Malaysia’s medical tourism services will be on five countries, namely Indonesia, China, Vietnam, Myanmar and India.
Earlier, #sharemylove is the theme behind the ongoing ‘Malaysia Loves You’ campaign launched on Feb 29 last year, featuring paintings from seven up-and-coming local artists from the Malaysian art scene.
The campaign, aimed at creating further awareness of Malaysia as a global leader in healthcare tourism, runs until Sept 16.
