The Seoul city government will join hands with 180 partner organizations this year to accelerate the growth of the medical tourism industry.
The city said on the 17th that it hosted an 'Integrated Briefing on Seoul Medical Tourism' for medical tourism partner organizations at the Seoul Tourism Foundation and Seoul Tourism Plaza.
This time, there are a total of 180 organizations, including 132 medical institutions, 30 hosting institutions, and 18 tourism service institutions. These organizations will collaborate with the city over the next three years to lead the medical tourism industry.
During the briefing, participants shared key accomplishments of Seoul's medical tourism industry from last year, and discussions were held regarding this year's business promotion direction and cooperation plans with the industry.
This year, the city plans to target the Southeast Asian market, where demand for premium medical tourism is rising due to economic growth, to expand the attraction of multinational medical tourists.
Directly going abroad to places like Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh in June) and Indonesia (Jakarta in October), the city is set to hold health consultation meetings and Seoul Medical Tourism briefings.
In September, the city announced it would host the 'Seoul Medical Tourism International Travel Mart,' the largest medical tourism exchange in Asia, at the Conrad Seoul Hotel.
Targeting the rapidly growing medical tourism industry in the Middle East, the city will invite overseas buyers from 25 countries and over 60 individuals to Seoul for medical tourism briefings.
Additionally, to continuously provide medical tourism services in Seoul to foreign medical tourists, the city plans to support partner organizations with interpreter coordinator assistance, domestic and international promotional marketing, and capacity-building training.
To continuously provide high-quality medical tourism services unique to Seoul for foreign medical tourists, the city also plans to support partner organizations this year with interpreter coordinator assistance, domestic and international promotional marketing, and capacity-building training.
This year is a year to establish the 'Five-Year Basic Plan for the Activation of Seoul Medical Tourism'; therefore, the city aims to listen to diverse and honest voices from the field during this briefing to create effective policies.
Kim Ji-hyun, Head of Team at H+ Yangji Hospital, noted, 'We are effectively utilizing the Seoul Medical Tourism coordinator matching service composed of various language groups, as well as the pickup and sending support services,' and suggested that he hopes the services currently supported in the medical tourism industry will continue to expand.
Koo Jong-won, Director of the Tourism and Sports Bureau of Seoul, said, 'We will continue to provide multifaceted support for the development of medical tourism and showcase Seoul's unique, distinguished, high-quality medical tourism services to medical tourists worldwide.'