The number of health tourists to Colombia grew by 6.4 % in 2015, with the arrival of 10,423 compared to 9,792 in 2014 claims government tourism and foreign investment agency ProColombia.
The main countries of origin are claimed to be Netherlands (4,492); USA (1,159); Venezuela (860); Ecuador (628); and Panama (625).
The data comes from a mix of official incoming traveller and ProColombia calculations. But there is the usual problem that health and medical tourist numbers may be mixed up with international travellers who need urgent unplanned medical treatment.
To be fair to ProColombia the 10,000 figure is reasonable compared to the various government agency claims of recent years, ranging from 20,000 to 50,000 medical tourists a year. That most tourists are from the USA makes it believable that Americans account for most medical tourism. But the high number from the Netherlands, as there are few Dutch tourists, is harder to explain. That medical tourists come from other Latin American countries is also believable.
ProColombia says that Colombia is an attractive destination for assisted reproduction, oncology, urology, physical rehabilitation and cardiology. It also says that Colombian medical tourism includes wellness services.
Source: http://www.imtj.com/news/latest-medical-tourism-figures-colombia/
