Malaysia targets Indonesian health tourism market
Malaysia targets Indonesian health tourism market
A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Melaka, Malaysia
"Is it ethical to profit from sick men and women?" a friend of
mine asked during a recent trip to several cities in Malaysia.
"I don't know. But many of them are healthy. They are rich
people coming here just for medical checkups or plastic
surgery, while enjoying the tourist attractions at the same
time," I replied.
Health tourism is already officially sanctioned in many
countries, including Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia.
Expecting to reap huge benefits, some states in Malaysia are
now targeting the Indonesian market, offering lower costs than
either Singapore or Thailand.
The services range from general checkups to heart surgery,
with the latest technology and equipment and overseas-trained
doctors.
"Our services and doctors are as good as in Singapore and we
are less expensive then they are. You see, the exchange rate for
the Indonesian rupiah against the Malaysian ringgit is better
than against the Singapore dollar," said Akbar Bin Ali, the
director of the Melaka Tourism Promotion Board.
Akbar said the Indonesia market had great potential, with 90
percent of last year's 47,000 visitors coming to Malaysia's
second smallest state for health tourism reasons being
Indonesian.
He said that many of the Indonesian tourists came from Padang,
West Sumatra, Pekanbaru, Riau, and Medan, North Sumatra as these
cities had direct flights or ferries to cities in Malaysia as
well as no departure tax.
"With Indonesia's population of 220 million people, we hope
that more and more Indonesian people will come here, such as
people from Jakarta or Surabaya," said Akbar.
Malaysia has a population of 25 million people with 1.7
million people living in Melaka.
Several hotels, such as the A'Famosa Resort in Melaka or
Cititel Hotel in Penang, have pioneered health tourism packages.
A'Famosa's sales manager Pochan Bong said that for only RM 350
(US$94) a couple could stay two nights in the hotel -- which has
various theme parks, such as Water World, a Zoo, and Cowboy Town
-- and have a general checkup at the privately-run Mahkota
Medical Center.
"If the tourists want to seek further medical treatment, they
can stay here longer. We offer special rates for them," Pochan
said.
Due to the potentially lucrative market, Mahkota's business
development manager Vincent Wan said that his hospital has
established a number of representative offices in Indonesia,
including in Padang, Pekanbaru, and Harco Mangga Dua in downtown
Jakarta.
Mahkota's strategy in cooperating with hotels and setting up
representative offices has also been applied by Kuala Lumpur's
newest medical center, Health Scan Malaysia.
Health Scan Malaysia's director Lee Chong Seng said his center
would also introduce high-technology medical diagnostic services
and facilities. This medical center owns South East Asia's first
64-slice multi-detector CT scanner.
"The CT scan can produce images of the smallest cardiac,
pulmonary and peripheral vessels in less than 10 seconds," Lee
said.
He said the center, which was designed differently from a
hospital and was located on the second-floor of an office building,
could provide the results of a complete medical checkup in less
than a day.
Meanwhile, a patient of the Mahkota center said that she and
her family could enjoy tourist destinations in Melaka after she
had been treated at the center.
"I couldn't go anywhere if I was treated in Jakarta," said
Nany, a resident of Padang, West Sumatra, who was being treated
for sinus problems.