[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Incheon City has embarked on a new leap forward as a global medical tourism hub city in line with the transition to the COVID-19 endemic phase.
The city announced on the 8th that it will expand the medical tourism industry ecosystem reflecting the trend shifting from treatment to prevention, and pursue various projects aiming to attract 13,000 medical tourists this year.
The city plans to build a cooperative network with overseas sister cities, international organizations, and foreign missions, and hold regular meetings to attract foreign patients to share progress and areas for improvement.
In addition, the city will establish a specialized medical tourism education system linking industry, academia, and government, train professional personnel such as medical and wellness convergence coordinators, and improve support services to meet changes in the medical tourism environment and consumer demands.
The operation method of non-medical services such as foreign patient transportation, interpretation, and tourism will be changed from individual use by medical institutions to integrated operation, and a post-care safety service will be promoted for patients visiting for re-treatment to enhance Incheon's status as a medical tourism destination.
The Incheon Medical Tourism Promotion Center will be renamed the Incheon Medical Support Center to strengthen comprehensive consultation and support services.
The number of foreign patients visiting Incheon reached a record high of 24,864 in 2019, then sharply decreased to between 5,000 and 8,000 due to the impact of COVID-19, and increased to 10,000 last year. [Photo by Incheon City]
The city will also promote medical sharing services inviting foreign patients and support training for medical staff to enhance the brand awareness of Incheon medical tourism.
The plan is to discover and treat foreign patients in medical blind spots, invite local medical staff from target countries to promote Incheon's medical excellence, and build an Incheon network.
The number of foreign patients visiting Incheon reached a record high of 24,864 in 2019 before the COVID-19 outbreak, then decreased to 5,279 in 2020 and 8,570 in 2021, and is estimated to have reached about 10,000 last year.
As of 2021, by country, China (24.6%), the United States (10%), and Vietnam (8%) ranked highest, and by medical department, internal medicine (28.5%), dermatology (10.8%), and health screening centers (6.9%) were the top. In particular, foreigners using internal medicine and health screening centers increased significantly by 103% and 140% respectively compared to the previous year.
An official from Incheon City said, "Globally, the medical tourism trend is shifting from treatment to prevention and health management," adding, "We will quickly respond to market changes by developing high value-added medical tourism products unique to Incheon linked with various wellness tourism resources."
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