Dubai (DPA)

Participants in an international convention held in Dubai confirmed that the Gulf cities are making major revenues from “curative tourism” and “reverse curative tourism” and have become a big attraction for major investments in the health care sector.

The city of Dubai has earned more than 280 million dollars (1.02 billion AED) in curative tourism last year, according to the Health Authority in the Emirate.

The director of the curative tourism file in Dubai, Dr. Leila AL MARZOUKI, said that the number of arrivals from abroad for treatment in the city is estimated at 300 thousand tourists annually, along with 360 thousand people from within the country who preferred to continue their treatment in the emirate instead of travelling abroad, which is called reverse curative tourism, with an expected increase in the numbers during the current year and a revenue increase by 15 per cent.

Experts, investors and specialists in the medical field called on the Gulf countries to increase plans to attract investments in the health field, which promotes curative tourism.

The economy expert Mr. Moutaz Al Khayyat confirmed the urgent need to build more health facilities in the Gulf countries as a result of the increase in the number of residents and visitors in the region, which necessitates the existence of facilities ready to face this challenge and continue to provide the economy and curative tourism with permanent financial revenues.

Mr. Moutaz Al Khayyat said that investing in the health sector and curative tourism through the provision of competitive packages contributes significantly to support the Gulf economy.

“More investments must be made, hospitals are built and new medical facilities are being built. Any developed economy needs to be the cornerstone of a strong and diverse health sector, including curative tourism.”

On her part, Dr. Reem OSMAN, Executive Manager of the Saudi German Hospital, said that the provision of excellent health services has become a great attraction for patients from European, Asian and African countries and has contributed to reducing Gulf travel rates for treatment in Europe and Asia.

“The Saudi German Hospital in Dubai is receiving patients from France, Italy, Russia and Nigeria for specialized medical treatment.”

“The reputation of medical tourism in Dubai has had a significant impact on attracting large groups of tourists from Asia to receive high quality medical services in the hospital, providing the tourism sector with an important investment tourism resource that enriches the movement of hotels, shopping malls and various infrastructure facilities, transportation, and flights”.

She stated that a major development in reverse curative tourism has occurred during which “the Saudi German Hospital in Dubai has received a large number of UAE patients who have been treated abroad, but have chosen to complete hospital treatment in Dubai in the fields of neurosurgery, heart surgery and bone surgery.

On his part, Dr. Mahmoud AL CHOGHRI, Marketing Director at Sleman Al Habib Hospital in Dubai stated that the concept of reverse curative tourism is expanding significantly, with many UAE and Gulf nationals preferring to complete their treatment in their country, instead of traveling abroad.

He explained that the hospital receives patients from abroad to benefit from the services of spinal surgery, joint replacement, heart surgery epilepsy, and obesity treatment.

He continued to say that “the level of medical service in important medical specialties, with the recruitment of great medical expertise, has strengthened confidence in the Gulf health sector, and contributed significantly to the expansion of curative tourism in Dubai.

This article was originally published on the following website : http://www.alittihad.ae/details.php?id=50689&y=2016
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