Medical tourism is the provision of competitively priced private medical care in collaboration with the tourism industry.

Patients can travel to India for surgery and other forms of healthcare and pay less than patients who stay in their own country.

Other highly attractive benefits include: The opportunity for patients to avoid long waiting lists and with the savings they make, get a holiday included in the package.

Medical tourists are an expanding group and one of the leaders in the field is India.

The Growth of Medical Tourism in India

India's healthcare industry is already growing at 30 per cent annually. The area has shown such growth potential that Indian finance minister Jaswant Singh, called recently for India to become a "global health destination." His enthusiasm for making medical tourism in India a major foreign exchange revenue earner has broad based support among local government and industry.

The ministry of tourism has shown interest, but so to have the various state tourism boards and the private sector consisting of travel agents, tour operators and hotel companies. All are looking at healthcare and medical tourism in India as an area with tremendous growth potential.

A newspaper article recently in "India Abroad," showed the potential for medical tourism, when it outlined a deal, where India could earn more than $1 billion annually and creates 40 million new jobs by sub-contracting work from the British National Health Service. The deal would have broad appeal. It would slash waiting times dramatically in the UK and create huge savings in time and money for patients.

The potential for medical tourism in India from the US and UK looks set for major growth, as India becomes a preferred destination for medical tourists from these countries.

Medical Tourism Competition

As more and more patients from nations with high Medicare costs look for medical tourism options, India has competition namely from Thailand, Singapore and other Asian countries. They have good hospitals, attractive climates and are established tourist destinations. While these countries with their advanced medical facilities and medical tourism options have been drawing overseas healthcare traffic, India is and looks set to, expand at a faster rate.

India's World Class Healthcare Facilities

Indian corporate hospitals are comparable to hospitals anywhere in the world. In fact, India offers world-class medical facilities that are comparable with the US or UK.

There is already a high concentration of expatriate Indian medical staff working in the US and UK, as well as many other countries. This gives patients confidence in the healthcare offered by India generally as they are already used to the expertise and professionalism of Indian medical staff. This is a major, but often overlooked factor in the growth of medical tourism in India.

Medical Tourism Costs

Medical tourism in India's main appeal is low-cost treatment. Most estimates claim treatment costs in India start at around a tenth of the price of comparable treatment in the US or UK and cover a wide spectrum of areas from, cosmetic surgery and major operations, to preventative screening.

Medical Tourism in India and the Holiday of a Lifetime

Of course, you can get hugely reduced healthcare in India, but medical tourists can also enjoy a holiday in a country that has a huge diversity of holiday options, from the beaches of Goa, to the mighty Himalayas, diverse wildlife and thousands of years of culture. In conclusion, medical tourism in India is here to stay and looks set for spectacular growth.