Malaysia targets Indonesian health tourism market<\/p>\n
A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Melaka, Malaysia<\/p>\n
\"Is it ethical to profit from sick men and women?\" a friend of
\nmine asked during a recent trip to several cities in Malaysia.<\/p>\n
\"I don't know. But many of them are healthy. They are rich
\npeople coming here just for medical checkups or plastic
\nsurgery, while enjoying the tourist attractions at the same
\ntime,\" I replied.<\/p>\n
Health tourism is already officially sanctioned in many
\ncountries, including Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.<\/p>\n
Expecting to reap huge benefits, some states in Malaysia are
\nnow targeting the Indonesian market, offering lower costs than
\neither Singapore or Thailand.<\/p>\n
The services range from general checkups to heart surgery,
\nwith the latest technology and equipment and overseas-trained
\ndoctors.<\/p>\n
\"Our services and doctors are as good as in Singapore and we
\nare less expensive then they are. You see, the exchange rate for
\nthe Indonesian rupiah against the Malaysian ringgit is better
\nthan against the Singapore dollar,\" said Akbar Bin Ali, the
\ndirector of the Melaka Tourism Promotion Board.<\/p>\n
Akbar said the Indonesia market had great potential, with 90
\npercent of last year's 47,000 visitors coming to Malaysia's
\nsecond smallest state for health tourism reasons being
\nIndonesian.<\/p>\n
He said that many of the Indonesian tourists came from Padang,
\nWest Sumatra, Pekanbaru, Riau, and Medan, North Sumatra as these
\ncities had direct flights or ferries to cities in Malaysia as
\nwell as no departure tax.<\/p>\n
\"With Indonesia's population of 220 million people, we hope
\nthat more and more Indonesian people will come here, such as
\npeople from Jakarta or Surabaya,\" said Akbar.<\/p>\n
Malaysia has a population of 25 million people with 1.7
\nmillion people living in Melaka.<\/p>\n
Several hotels, such as the A'Famosa Resort in Melaka or
\nCititel Hotel in Penang, have pioneered health tourism packages.<\/p>\n
A'Famosa's sales manager Pochan Bong said that for only RM 350
\n(US$94) a couple could stay two nights in the hotel -- which has
\nvarious theme parks, such as Water World, a Zoo, and Cowboy Town
\n-- and have a general checkup at the privately-run Mahkota
\nMedical Center.<\/p>\n
\"If the tourists want to seek further medical treatment, they
\ncan stay here longer. We offer special rates for them,\" Pochan
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Due to the potentially lucrative market, Mahkota's business
\ndevelopment manager Vincent Wan said that his hospital has
\nestablished a number of representative offices in Indonesia,
\nincluding in Padang, Pekanbaru, and Harco Mangga Dua in downtown
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
Mahkota's strategy in cooperating with hotels and setting up
\nrepresentative offices has also been applied by Kuala Lumpur's
\nnewest medical center, Health Scan Malaysia.<\/p>\n
Health Scan Malaysia's director Lee Chong Seng said his center
\nwould also introduce high-technology medical diagnostic services
\nand facilities. This medical center owns South East Asia's first
\n64-slice multi-detector CT scanner.<\/p>\n
\"The CT scan can produce images of the smallest cardiac,
\npulmonary and peripheral vessels in less than 10 seconds,\" Lee
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He said the center, which was designed differently from a
\nhospital and was located on the second-floor of an office building,
\ncould provide the results of a complete medical checkup in less
\nthan a day.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a patient of the Mahkota center said that she and
\nher family could enjoy tourist destinations in Melaka after she
\nhad been treated at the center.<\/p>\n
\"I couldn't go anywhere if I was treated in Jakarta,\" said
\nNany, a resident of Padang, West Sumatra, who was being treated
\nfor sinus problems.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/malaysia-targets-indonesian-health-tourism-market-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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