Light at the end of the tunnel of medical tourism?

After my desabafos on "perspectives for medical tourism in 2010," I am pleased to say that I have received some positive feedback (always a good thing .... I'll keep on blogging!). And some assurance that I'm not alone in my point of view of the world medical tourism.

In particular, one of the long established medical tourism facilitators told me "as he was" in 2009 and how they think he could be in 2010. It's refreshing to hear someone being open and upfront about their experiences in medical tourism business and the challenges facing people in business.

I'd like to share some of these comments with other people of the world medical tourism. Here's what he was really like in 2009 to the business of a medical tourism, a business that is well established, well executed, and is not a shoe "a man and his dog". I'll respect your confidentiality and not the name of the undertaking concerned.

The view on the market
Here is our medical tourism facilitator had to say about 2009:

"Having dabbled in elective surgery market and came to the same conclusions as you .... that continue to this sector which would need to consolidate and concentrate on niche or a little more specialised sectors. Otherwise, we're finding it become a "Jack of all trades and master of none".

Last year was a very bad year. We were very busy with requests for information, but our conversion rate was disappointing and for those who convert, average spending was down. We put the conversion issues down to a 50/50 mixture of:

Recession-people don't pass, or when they are traveling for treatment, they are spending less. Competition-it seems that in the past 18 months that all people in Europe, with a fourth vague and who knows a dentist, jumped on the bandwagon of medical tourism.

Another factor that helped isn't the pound sterling against other currencies, especially the euro; This meant a 20% increase in costs and prices. This only apply to the cost of treatment but stay of patients while they are away. (Hotel rates are more expensive, eating out is more expensive etc). The effect has been significant. Our patient numbers fell by 30% in 2009 and the average spend per patient decreased by 25%. "

Thus, a difficult time for this business of medical tourism. But is not exclusive. Some dental clinics in Europe have been related to similar experiences. An implant Center in Budapest reported numbers of patients abroad down by over 20% and 25% similar fall on average spend per patient.

These experiences reflect the reality of medical tourism business in a recession?

Lies, damn lies and statistics?
The United Kingdom is a country where we can count things. We have a National Institute of statistics and employing about 4000 civil servants who count things ... including medical travelers. In treatment abroad, we can do our part to keep public employees in jobs, buying the data they produce – more specifically, the international Passenger Survey (IPS), a survey of a random sample of passengers entering and leaving the United Kingdom by air, sea or the channel tunnel. IPS attempts to identify the number of people traveling both inside and outside the United Kingdom United Kingdom where the main reason for the trip is the medical treatment (unlike business or vacation).

Now ... you need to take these statistics with a pinch of salt too large. Statistics contain statistical errors and the smaller the sample, the greater the risk of error.

Here is a graph of data showing medical travellers IPS of United Kingdom emerged from 2002 to 2009 (projected third quarter statistics). The sample size is small-these data about 50 to 100 the number of real travellers interviewed in each quarter, who stated that their main reason for the trip was a doctor. Thus, there is space for large variations in data!

But, it may well be that a reflection of the actual medical tourism trends in the UK and for 2009, in fact, it may reflect the experiences of many on the market that saw the number of tourists doctors in decline over the past 18 months or so, since the credit crunch hit.

Light at the end of the tunnel?
Our medical tourism facilitator cited above has a more positive outlook for the future:

"We have seen an increase in numbers of reservation of Dentistry in 2010. January is already up 100% in January 2009 (and almost the same number as in 2008, so something is starting to change.

With a good economic news on the horizon in the United Kingdom, we may be seeing an increase in consumer confidence. House prices increase and saw a return to economic growth, although not as good as many would have expected. Let's wait to see what the effect can be about unemployment. But, like many industries, medical tourism follows the trends of economy as a whole. Medical tourism is not immune to recession and certainly not thrives on it.

The way forward focus and think niche
Back to our facilitator of medical tourism, which is planning strategy for 2010:

"Our progress for 2010 will expand further dentistry and focus more on cosmetic surgery. We had taken a step in plastic surgery in 2009 due to the difficult climate and similar to your points (Keith Pollard) on offer too, we recognize that rather than being a "Jack of all trades ....", we need to have a separate Department. Having the same team alternating between the two products (Dentistry and cosmetic surgery) actually works. "

And our medical tourism facilitator concludes with a message to everyone in the industry:

"Totally agree with the conclusions of the article and recognize that this medical tourism industry is not as simple and as great as people have done. Only companies that maintain the adaptation and recognize the importance of focus and having the right resources to manage a specific sector of the industry will survive or commercially viable. "