Vietnam looks to develop medical tourism to better serve holidaymakers

Vietnam holds great potential in medical tourism development as it boasts a lot of mineral hot springs and mud, and has many areas with temperate climate, heard a webinar seeking ways to develop medical tourism in the country on October 6.

Deputy head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong said that the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, environmental pollution, and a rise in diseases are all leading to increasing demand for health care and medical tourism.

Many experts forecast tourists will take long trips not only for sightseeing but also to access medical care to improve their health.

Therefore, Huong said developing this type of tourism will help diversify Vietnam’s tourism products and lengthen tourists’ stay and increase their spending.

Experts said that in Vietnam, the exploitation of resources to develop healthcare tourism has achieved certain successes. However, these successes have not yet met the potential, as most of the medical tourism service establishments are still small in scale, with limit  ed human resources.

Vietnam has not well exploited its rich system of medicinal plants and well-known traditional medicine to develop healthcare tourism.