PETALING JAYA, Aug 22 — The media have been instrumental in spreading awareness of the country’s medical service offerings and helping to plant seeds of trust to attract healthcare travellers from around the globe, said Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah.
They had spurred discussions of how healthcare travel trends had shifted, providing a balance on how the strength of Asian healthcare systems was perceived and leading to the emergence of Southeast Asia as a leader within the global healthcare travel landscape that was once dominated by the West, he said.
“This has been very instrumental for Malaysia’s transition from the ‘hidden jewel of Asia’ to one of the world’s leading healthcare travel destinations…. Malaysia’s fame as an industry benchmark and healthcare service beacon has gone beyond our expectations,” Amiruddin said in opening the inaugural Medical Travel Media Awards (MTMA) 2019 here today.
He noted that the country had seen an encouraging 50 per cent growth in healthcare travellers between 2011 and last year, generating revenue at a compound annual growth rate of 16-17 per cent.
On the core markets, he said there was a 31 per cent growth in the number of visitors from Indonesia and an 11 per cent growth in healthcare travellers from China.
“This has been encouraging considering the funding that we have been working with in comparison to our competitors,” Amiruddin said in appreciation of the media’s role in making people turn to the country as their healthcare alternative.
He noted that Asia-Pacific’s healthcare travel industry experienced a year-on-year growth rate of eight per cent, double the global growth rate.
“Asia-Pacific alone receives between 40 and 45 per cent of total global tourists,” he said.
More than 250 submissions from Malaysia and abroad were received for the Medical Travel Media Awards organised by the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council, contesting in five categories: Best Print Feature, Best Broadcast Feature, Best Online Feature (local/international), Medical Travel Journalist of the Year and Medical Travel Editorial Team of the Year.
Sinar Harian, which won the Medical Travel Editorial Team of the Year award, received RM10,000 — the biggest award of the night — and a trophy.
Source: http://www.bernama.com
