Malaysia expects $500 million from health tourism in 2024
The Malaysian Health Tourism Council (MHTC) is on track to generate US$502 million in revenue from health tourism this year. These revenues are expected to contribute to an economic impact of about US$2.1 billion for other industries, including the hospitality and transportation sectors.
MHTC Director General Dr. Mohamed Ali Abu Bakar said this confidence is based on data collected through November 2023, when the industry achieved revenues of more than RM1.92 billion, in addition to the federal government's decision to grant visa-free stays of up to 30 days to Chinese and Indian nationals, which came into effect on December 1 last year. This was reported by e.vnexpress.net.
The total amount not only exceeded the original target for 2023, but also allowed the Malaysian medical tourism industry development plan for 2021-2025 of RM2 billion to be achieved two years ahead of schedule.
The CEO also added that it would also set a new record for the industry, surpassing the best pre-pandemic achievement of RM1.7 billion in 2019.
Mohamed Ali said that MHTC is optimistic that more medical tourists will come to Malaysia with the visa-free entry decision, given that China and India are also among the countries that contribute to the increase in the number of tourists in this category.
The introduction of such a visa policy is certainly timely, as many countries have eased the conditions for entering and leaving their countries after moving into the endemic phase that began two years ago, he continued.
Over the past decade, Malaysia has been known as a destination for health tourists in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2023, it recorded more than 1 million health tourist arrivals, up 15% from 2022.
Indonesia is the largest source of health tourists to Malaysia, accounting for 70-80% of the total number of such visitors. Other sources include Bangladesh, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore, the Republic of Korea, the United States and the United Kingdom.
Earlier, TravelWise reported that Malaysia plans to receive more than 27 million tourists this year.