Of the 35 countries identified in the survey as being significant healthcare tourism providers, India was ranked as the number one popular destination, with Thailand and Singapore positioned at second and third places respectively. The United States had a surprise ranking at number four and the UAE came in at number 11. "The Asian and Far Eastern countries are well-established medical tourism destinations, so the top three placings were expected," said Dr. Jagyasi. "The United States came in at number four, which wasn't anticipated. It could mean that there are as yet untapped opportunities for facilitators looking to incorporate this potentially lucrative market in their service provision," he added.

The medical tourism survey was conducted on-line and contained questions that had been developed over a six month period and based on intensive research. The qualitative assessment was sent to medical tourism professionals in North America, South America, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Gulf regions, Asia and the Far East. It found that medical tourism facilitators are in a prime position to capitalise on the promising opportunities offered by this sector of the health market; with 88% of respondents agreeing that role of facilitator - those agencies providing health-related travel services - are either important or very important in this segment.

Read more: