As tourists are increasingly integrating wellness with their travel plans, wellness tourism in India is expanding faster than global tourism. India figures in the top ten wellness tourism markets globally and in the top five in Asia-Pacific. The country’s medical tourism sector was estimated at $5-$6 billion in mid-2020 and is now estimated to have grown past USD 10 billion.
India for Global Health
India is home to world-class doctors, modern healthcare infrastructure, affordable, expert and comprehensive treatments, internationally accredited hospitals, renowned hospitality services, English-speaking healthcare professionals, an upgraded travel network, easy access to medical visas and advanced IT systems. Additionally, India is a global hub for Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, which have developed through centuries of ancient wisdom.
The theme of the World Health Assembly this year is ‘One World for Health’. It resonates with India’s vision for global health. The government’s clarion call for private players to collaborate in medical value travel (MVT) or medical tourism is promising for the industry. Treatments in India are at least two to three times cheaper than in Western countries. The central government is promoting MVT and Human Resource (HR) Mobility under the umbrella theme of ‘Heal in India and Heal by India’. MVT spells good growth for India’s healthcare sector and India is attracting medical value travellers from across the globe.
All are welcome for wellness
Wellness tourism and MVT are crucial sectors for achieving ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ and accelerating the country’s development. Recognising this, the Ministry of Tourism has devised a comprehensive national strategy and roadmap to develop medical and wellness tourism as a brand by providing its institutional framework and enhancing the ecosystem as well as ensuring quality assurance.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also urged all stakeholders in the healthcare sector to invest in promoting health tourism while also utilising the potential of Yoga and wellness tourism to make India a global-level tourism and wellness hub. All must come together to achieve this goal and make India the topmost choice for medical tourists from around the world.
As per the Ministry of External Affairs, India issued 5.97 lakh medical visas in 2023 compared to 3.75 lakh in 2019. India issued 1.52 lakh medical visas even during the COVID-19 pandemic. The numbers came down in 2024, mainly because of unrest in Bangladesh, as a major chunk of visas were being issued to Bangladeshis. Nepalese can enter India without any visa, so they are not included in the figures, but they also come in large numbers. With the recent regime change in Bangladesh and the following tit for tat trade restrictions, medical tourist inflow from Bangladesh is expected to decline.
Challenges to overcome in the Medical Tourism sector in India
One key area where India lags is streamlining all its resources into one holistic and harmonious medical and wellness tourism experience. Due to this, many medical tourists prefer Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand as their one-stop destination over India. This is a deplorable fact owing to a lack of integrated and unified structure between primary sectors – travel service providers, hospitals, wellness resorts and the administration.
Another important issue that needs attention is the surge of all kinds of wellness resorts mushrooming all over India. In order to contain this and also maintain quality control, the National Accreditation Board, in consultation with AYUSH, has released guidelines for the accreditation of wellness centres. The Ministry of Tourism has also issued protocols to address such concerns as training and capacity building, quality control, participation in domestic and international wellness events, etc.
In a recent medical tourism conference in Mumbai where industry experts pointed towards the pressing need for private investors as co-partners in this sector to fully utilise India’s potential. A strong marketing strategy and an organic, government-backed ecosystem are critical to direct medical and wellness tourists to our country. Government initiatives such as ‘Heal in India, Heal by India’ are promising.