THINGS are looking up for Malaysia’s healthcare tourism industry, thanks to the full reopening of its international borders from April 1.

Economists expect the country’s economy to rebound this year as it transitions to the endemic phase, with tourism-related industries poised to emerge from their two-year doldrums.

Analysts said the healthcare tourism sector should seek the best way to recoup its losses, especially when the Malaysia Year of Healthcare Travel (MYHT2020) international campaign was deferred during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Under the campaign, the healthcare tourism segment was targeted to generate Rm2bil of revenue from medical tourists and a spillover of Rm6bil in medical receipts in 2020.

Since the border reopening, Malaysia has witnessed a surge in foreign tourist arrivals and bookings for holiday packages, which augured well for the economy.

A lecturer from Universiti Teknologi MARA’S Faculty of Hotel & Tourism Management in Penang, Assoc Prof Dr Azila Azmi, said the nation’s healthcare segment is set to bounce back in line with the revival of global tourism.

She said all signs are pointing to strong growth in domestic tourism, hence industry players need only to take several approaches to ensure they return to pre-covid-19 recovery.

“Malaysia is recognised as one of the top medical travel destinations in the world. As proof, the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) has had a string of international accolades since 2011, among others the Asia Pacific Healthcare and Medical Tourism Award for 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021. The MHTC also bagged the International Medical Travel Journal award from 2015 to 2020.

“Nine out of 15 categories were won by Malaysian health service providers. MHTC also won the Health and Medical Tourism 2018 award for the second consecutive year.

“This shows MHTC’S capability as an agency tasked to facilitate and promote the healthcare travel industry of Malaysia,” she said.

The rebound in healthcare tourism is reflected in the tourist arrivals, with 2019 alone recording 1.3 million medical tourists.

Of the total, 60% were from Indonesia, followed by China, India and other South-east Asian nations.

According to Azila, high quality services, competitive medical fees and accessibility to modern medical facilities are among the contributing factors that have placed Malaysia as one of the preferred medical healthcare destinations.

“Global air connectivity drives tourism, and in this case, Malaysia’s location and accessibility by international airlines, are factors which brought tourists to the country. All these are indicators of Malaysia’s significance in global tourism and the reopening of the nation’s borders is a step in the right direction, allowing us to return to the ‘old normal’,” she added.

She believes that the healthcare tourism sector in Malaysia can return to the heyday of mass travels before the pandemic, noting that industry players should reinvent their marketing strategies to boost tourists’ confidence.

“Industry players should be cognisant of the security issue. This is based on the World Travel and Tourism Council survey which showed that Covid-19 has changed travel preferences.

“Tourists are weighing in new factors when planning to travel. They will be looking out for tourist destinations which can offer them comfort, safety and reliability. In other words, they give top priority to security and protection aspects,” she added.

As such, she said, security assurance should be top priority.

“Patients who seek treatment for their illness need to feel comfortable, without having to worry about the risks of infection from Covid-19 during their stay in Malaysia. This should be given top priority as the virus is still with us and the rate of infection and levels of severity of each individual are different,” she added.

Besides that, Azila said most travellers now prefer contactless transactions as part of a safe and seamless travel experience.

“This is in line with the government’s aspiration of creating a smart tourism city in every state,” she noted.

Industry players, said Azila, should continue with their marketing approach of attracting tourists virtually as well as through faceto-face promotion.

“Outpatient care through e-pharmacy (online pharmacy) and virtual therapy have proven to be effective platforms as they save time and energy for customers. Medical tourists are likely to seek face-to-face treatment after receiving virtual therapy or consultancy.

“However, the virtual platform should be customer-friendly and time-saving. At the same time, clients should not be subject to a conundrum of bureaucratic processes,” she said.

Malaysia should also intensify promotion efforts in the healthcare tourism industry via online, improve efficiency in application processes and screening of international patients as well as strengthen collaboration with the relevant authorities to help turnaround the industry.

On tourist arrivals to the country, Azila said Malaysia expects the number of tourists to increase in tandem with current conditions. “While the pandemic engulfed almost every country across the globe in 2020, Malaysia was still able to record visitor arrivals of about 4.33 million. A small figure, yet reasonable,” she said.

Malaysia is renowned among international patients who seek treatment for various services such as in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), cardiology, oncology, orthopaedic, neurology and general health screening.

Among the sought after medical procedures are aesthetic and cosmetic treatments, such as cosmetic surgery, dental treatment, such as fitting a new crown and teeth whitening, laser eye surgery (lasik) as well as wart and mole removal.

Azila said many aesthetic treatment clinics have sprung up across the country. While Thailand is renowned for its aesthetic treatment industry, Malaysia has an edge over its neighbour in attracting medical tourists, especially Muslims.

Hence existing tourism packages need to be further improved in keeping with the latest trends, taking into account medical tourists’ preferences.

“Existing healthcare service packages can improve value for patients by providing other wellness services such as the traditional Malay massage at spa or reflexology centres.

“With this kind of treatment, medical tourists will feel relaxed and rejuvenated and will regard it as a self-reward for them after completing their official medical session,” she said, adding that the diverse health and beauty treatment packages can give the hard-hit wellness tourism entrepreneurs a breath of fresh air.

Former Deputy Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Datuk Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik is also optimistic that recovery is on the horizon for the medical tourism sub-sector in the country.

Malaysia, he said, has the expertise in medical tourism and its healthcare treatments are easily available at competitive prices.

However, healthcare tourism entrepreneurs need the support from other parties especially transport industry players to ensure a seamless journey for international travellers to Malaysia, he added.

“Tourist arrivals including medical travellers are influenced by several factors such as flight availability (seat capacity). In this respect, airline authorities should work together in increasing the number of flights to tourism destinations such as Medan and Jakarta.

“At the same time, the industries involved should explore the tourism potential of selected locations jointly with industry players,” he said.

In welcoming the move to ease the entry process for travellers to Malaysia, he said this would encourage more tourists especially from India and China to visit the country.

Malaysia, he stressed should tap fully the current trends in healthcare tourism as every medical visitor has the potential to spend three times the amount spent by regular tourists, including MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) participants.