Opportunities for Korea on medical tourism

South Korea is a country that arrived late to the game of medical tourism, but in the long term be one of the winners. Perhaps initially attracted by predictions inflated that lauded around medical tourism industry by "industry experts" and commentators, Korea but took a more realistic vision of where your success may lie.

In the recent Busan medical tourism Convention provided a vision of how Korea are thinking about the opportunities offered by medical tourism. In 2010, Korea is hoping to attract tourists doctors about 60000 and the target is to attract 140000 in 2015. This is not a reasonable goal and is much more realistic than some of the numbers we see appearing of governmental and tourism in other countries. The strategy of "highest quality, lowest cost" is not that which Korea want to proceed or indeed should exercise. Research of Korea existing medical travellers shows that factors of quality, convenience and confidence outweigh the cost drivers. In terms of costs related to health services, Korea is significantly cheaper than the United States (but then each country is), but it is not as competitive price as countries like India, Singapore or Thailand. In fact, something like a knee or hip replacement would cost a similar amount in Korea at the cost of treatment especially in United Kingdom.

Thus, Korea won't win in the cost. Even this will attract large numbers of tourists doctors in Europe. Their prices are not sufficiently competitive and long flight times will deter potential European patients. The same can be applied to patients from the United States if the U.S. medical tourism boom very hyped begins to happen. A patient U.S., can be very similar to perception of quality healthcare destinations such as Korea, Singapore and Thailand. Thus, boils down to the cost factor, Korea will lose.

So where is Korea looking to attract their patients? The drivers of accessibility and cultural matching provide the answer:

Although the United States are the twelve hour flight away, cultural connections mean that the Korean Community within the United States has to be a target. About 1.2 million Korean Americans, many of whom are on the West Coast should provide a source of patients. Within an hour of a flight from Japan, Korea is already a source of many tourists from plastic surgery, and where health costs are rising quickly. And not much farther away is China that can provide an abundant supply of long-term medical tourists. Is interesting market, Korea and many countries are turning their attention to Russia. With the move towards a market economy in Russia, there is an upper class that is investing abroad, take a vacation abroad .... and seeking medical treatment abroad.

As Korea can create a competitive advantage in world medical tourism overcrowded? Perhaps not in Western medicine. Kang Dong hospital in Busan is a Korean hospital that combines Western medicine with Oriental medicine "traditional" and provides a model of care that is attractive to many in the far East.

Another opportunity is for Korea to leverage your existing strengths and the image that you created in world markets. Through the success of companies like Samsung and LG, Korea has created a high-tech modern image for you. Apply its technological know-how and skills in medical tourism sector could prove advantageous in creating an advantage over the competition. The unique technology company that I have found so far in a medical tourism Conference is Samsung.

It was said that the success of the Korea technology and such automotive industries manufacturings lies in its ability to copy what others are doing, learn from your mistakes, do it better and more difficult to work with it. If Korea applies the same philosophy of medical tourism, then some of the destinations most established will be looking over their shoulders