Posted By Damjan DeNoble
from Bernama, the Malaysian news agency, reports that;
“Secretary General of the National Chambers of Commerce and Industry Malaysia (NCCIM), Datuk Syed Hussien Al-Habshee said the lack of effective marketing strategy was the reason for Malaysia being left behind [Singapore and Thailand] in the multi billion ringgit medical tourism sector.”
More interesting, however, is Mr. Al-Habshee’s take on why Malaysia is so far behind;
“Although we have the clear edge in terms of religion, Muslim hospital staff, halal food and other aspects, Middle East tourists prefer to go to Thailand and Singapore.
“Due to this, the country continues to be left far behind the two neighbouring countries in the sector which is growing annually and worth billions of ringgit,” he told Bernama in an interview here Tuesday.
Maybe Malaysia does have the ‘clear edge’ when it comes to its cultural ties with other Muslim countries, but Thailand and Singapore’s hospitals and medical staff are superior to those of Malaysia. Health matters, unlike death, are a pragmatic choice for most people. So, perhaps Malaysia’s marketing strategy is faltering not because it is not capitalizing on its ‘clear edge’ but because its ‘clear edge’ is of little concern to Muslims traveling abroad for medical care.
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Yes, That could be the reason for slow growth of Medical Tourism in Malaysia. Though, many companies in Malaysia offering lot of services to the Tourists. Hope it will be the front runner in future.
I hope so, too. Malaysia seems to be working hard to get to the top. What are you seeing out there?
Was at the Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia conference last week on Healthcare Tourism. Malaysia seems to be very serious in moving forward in capturing the market from Singapore and Thailand by forming Malaysia Healthcare Travel council(MHTC).
Various hospitals in Malaysia has complained about the strict advertisement act which is being levied on the healthcare industry in Malaysia – that is the main reason why their marketing effort is being restricted compared to those 2 country.
The Prime Minister will officially launch the MHTC in December 2009 to support and to look into the Medical Tourism Industry in Malaysia.
For those who are not aware of this – Malaysia is set to host ASIA MEDICAL TOURISM & WELLNESS CONGRESS 13-14 May 2010. We are expecting 1,500 delegates / visitors / exhibitors from Asia, Middle East, Middle East and Western countries to this congress.
For those who are really interested to follow closely on the medical tourism updates kindly visit
See you guys there!!
Cheers,
Boon
boon@vmacgroup.com