April 2016 – Malaysia Healthcare participates in the 4th International Medical & HealthCare Exhibition & Conference 2016 (IMTEC Oman) from 4-6 April, and the 8th Riyadh Travel Fair 2016 from 12-15 April, showcasing Malaysia’s advantages as a healthcare destination of choice, and to explore potential government-to-government (G2G) collaborations within the Middle East market.
Malaysia Healthcare seeks to establish a stronger brand presence within the Middle East market, as well as to build greater relationships with Middle Eastern consumers and stakeholders, particularly in the service sector.
“We have conducted strategic assessments over the years and now have a more focused, niche strategy with a unique selling proposition for the Middle East. The Middle East market plays a key role in our development strategy, being one of our strongest markets, and we are vested in seeing how we can serve this market more efficiently,” commented Sherene Azli, Chief Executive Officer of the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council.
Moving beyond conventional promotion of its value proposition of highly accessible and affordable quality healthcare, Malaysia Healthcare also strives to build sustainable collaborations in industry and G2G initiatives, to raise the development of the country’s healthcare travel industry to the next level.
Malaysia was recently awarded as the Top Country for Muslim Travel in 2015 by Master Card-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index. The country’s affordable treatments with Arabic speaking translators available upon request as well as its Muslim-friendly hospital environment are a sure appeal to the Middle Eastern. “As we forge ahead in our mission, Malaysia Healthcare also seeks to build sustainable collaborations, domestically and abroad, to further strengthen our healthcare propositions and to create higher degrees of accessibility to our healthcare services for citizens of the world. Malaysia’s standing as a Global Halal Hub gives it a niche appeal to markets with consumers seeking halal-compliant options and environments, not only for themselves but also for accompanying family members. This, coupled with the favourable exchange rate, makes Malaysia an ideal healthcare travel destination.” elaborated Ms. Sherene.
artnering with Malaysia Healthcare for this Middle East agenda is KPJ Healthcare, a leading Malaysian provider for awards-winning healthcare services. The healthcare giant will feature specialists, general health practitioners and physiotherapists from some of their premier hospitals as part of the Malaysian entourage, to give conference attendees at both events the opportunity for one-on-one conversations about healthcare options in Malaysia, and to offer free consultation sessions, mini-medical check-ups and health talks, focusing on wellness, lifestyle and physiotherapy.
Malaysia Healthcare has grown from strength to strength in the last few years. The country was named the “Medical Travel Destination of the Year” at the Medical Travel Awards 2015 by the International Medical Travel Journal, and “Best Country in the World for Healthcare” by International Living’s Global Retirement Index for three consecutive years since 2014. Malaysia was also honoured as the “2015 Public Private Partnership Medical Travel Destination of the Year” at the 8th Annual World Medical Tourism & Global Healthcare Congress in Orlando, Florida (USA) for its highly successful public-private partnerships and collaborations.
Over 850,000 international travellers arrived in Malaysia seeking healthcare services last year. Internationally, Malaysia has gained fast popularity for its highly accessible and affordable world-class quality care, which resulted in hospital revenues of more than RM900 million for the country in 2015.
“We strongly believe that Malaysia has the right mix: excellence in quality care, ease of accessibility and competitive affordability. To top it off, it is easy for travellers to communicate with health professionals here, where English is widely spoken, and matched with strong government backing and commitment from the private healthcare sector, Malaysia has everything it takes to achieve our ambition of becoming number one in the world for healthcare travel,” said Ms. Azli.
Additionally, Malaysia Healthcare recently launched the “Malaysia Loves You” campaign at the start of this year. The campaign aims to highlight Malaysia’s most unique qualities as a healthcare destination of choice, and includes an online competition which is open to all. The lucky winner of this stands to win a 5 day 4-night Health and Wellness retreat at one of the country’s leading wellness facilities. For more details, terms and conditions, log on to http://mylovesyou.com
ABOUT MALAYSIA HEALTHCARE TRAVEL COUNCIL (MHTC)
MHTC is an agency under the purview of the Ministry of Health Malaysia that has been entrusted with the responsibility of curating the country’s healthcare travel scene. Identified as a National Key Economic Area (NKEA), the healthcare travel industry has great potential to contribute to the nation’s economy in its final dash towards achieving a developed nation status.
ABOUT IMTEC OMAN 2016
Organized by the Omani Ministry of Health from 4-6 April at the Oman International Exhibition Centre in Muscat, the 4th IMTEC Oman is a bi-annual international event centred around the development of the Omani healthcare sector, which outsources billions of healthcare services overseas annually. The event draws industry players from all around the world, allowing opportunities for international collaboration in all aspects of the health and wellness industry, particularly in new developments, trade, trends and investments.
ABOUT RIYADH TRAVEL FAIR 2016
The 8th Riyadh Travel Fair 2016, held from 12-15 April at the Al Faisaliah Hotel, is an annual professional event for the travel and tourism industry for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. The event aims to promote investment, industry development and sustainability for the region, and regularly attracts tourism promotion authorities and leading travel & tourism stakeholders from around Saudi Arabia, other GCC countries and international players interested in capturing a share of the lucrative Middle East market.
