According to our latest report Vietnam Tourism Industry Forecast to 2012, Vietnam has emerged as one of the most popular tourist destinations in the ASEAN region due to its exquisite landscape, fast developing hospitality services, and a stable political environment. Despite global economic slowdown, the country experienced increase in international tourist arrivals, which is further expected to surge at a CAGR of around 11% during the forecast period 2010-2014.
Ongoing research found that, the hotel industry has played a significant role in the overall development of tourism industry in the country. Several joint venture accommodation projects between local and overseas investors popped up, either through new hotel developments, or renovating the already existing ones. The hotel industry has often been cited as having helped meet Vietnam’s growing demand for hotel rooms, at a time when inbound tourist numbers far exceeded official state forecasts.
However, presently, rising presence of MICE tourism is driving the Vietnam tourism industry. This segment is lucrative and helps significantly increase the global image of a city with opinion leaders from various fields visiting the city. Longer stay time, higher spending level, and larger groups of visitors are the characteristics of MICE visitors. Read more...
The emergent business of global healthcare, or medical tourism, is generating a lot of income. Seeking medical attention in other countries is seen now as a more practical choice. In the coming year, this $ 20 billion-industry is expected to grow double with more and more people considering getting medical care abroad.
More about the industry
Crossing borders in order to seek medical attention is essentially the practice of medical tourism. The industry has emerged due to the fact that a lot of people are looking for more affordable healthcare. The cost of medical procedures in other countries could be half of that in the US. For people who have no health insurance, this sounds very appealing.
According to reviews, the countries that are now known for catering to medical tourists are Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Brazil, and India.
Every year, each South East Asian destination gets half a million healthcare visitors on average.
For cosmetic surgery overseas, most medical tourists go for South American destinations like Costa Rica, or Brazil. Brazil tops all other countries with the most number of professionals in the field of cosmetic surgery. There are around 4,500 cosmetic doctors in Brazil today. Read more...
Tourism Marketing is defined as the enabler of a country to invite guests from different cultures, customs, traditions, to enjoy their rich culture, heritage, cuisines, art and architecture, entertainment and hospitality.
Tourism Industry is the largest employment generator in the world. We find that small countries like Malaysia and Singapore woo millions of foreign tourists and bag billions of foreign exchange. India has been lagging behind so far, due to innumerable reasons.
Now India tourism receipts show better stats. India received $ 15 billion and Kerala received $ 3 billion. India, who houses rich tourist locations, have so far been at the bottom of the World Tourism Receipt countries and does not figure in the top ten. This is mainly because of the step daughterly treatment Tourism Industry got from the country’s planners.
It was only last year that the Government allocated 1000 crores in the Indian budget for the Tourism sector.
United States lead with receipts of over $ 100 b. Spain is second with 60 b, Germany, UK and China are about 40 billion.
Tourism infrastructure should be improved in India, if India is to exploit the full potential of Tourism. India at the moment receives 5 million Foreign Tourist Arrivals and earns more than $ 15 b in forex. Domestic tourists have gone up to 200 million. This low rank of India, when compared to other countries, is due to the lack of vision of the Indian authorities, who considered Tourism as a pastime for the rich ! Read more...
For some travelers, golf is a perfect relaxation getaway. If your destination includes or is close to golf courses, country clubs or golf trails, don’t let your CVB or tourism bureau miss out on an important traveler coming to your neck of the woods: the golfer. Reach out to these tourists by adding a link to your CVB or tourism Web page to give golfers a reason to visit your destination. Here are a few bits of information the link can provide:
* How to pack their gear. With constant updates in FAA regulations, it isn’t uncommon to get to the airport and realize you’ve done something wrong, or something needs to be rearranged. Information geared towards golfers would consist of letting them know: clubs must be checked and secured in a hard case (which can be purchased at most golf shops), golf balls may be carried on the plane, play it safe and check the golf tees, which clubs to bring to keep the checked bag weight light, etc.
Links to different airlines and the FAA’s Web site would also be helpful resources.
* What threads to pack. Different golf clubs have different dress codes. Hard spikes might need to be left at home, but collared shirts are almost always a must. Be sure to know what different clubs in your area require to cater to your golfing tourist’s needs. Read more...
The term Medical Tourism was initially coined by travel agencies for describing the perform of traveling abroad for medical treatment. This was done for obtaining the best and reasonable health care services outside the country.The services that are usually arranged by the professional agencies include complex professional surgeries like dental surgery, cosmetic surgery, cardiac surgery, joint replacement (knee/hip) and more. One can also directly contact the respective hospitals in countries like India, Mexico and Costa Rica for information through websites and respective medical center councilors. The patient has to provide their medical report to the service provider including the nature of illness, doctor’s opinion, diagnosis and complete medical history.
Certified medical consultants and doctors give their advice on the essential treatment.
The whole process of medical tourism includes the discussion of approximate expenditure, hospital choice, the tourist destination as well as the duration of their stay. Once the agreement and consent bond gets signed, the patient is provided with the suggestion letter to get a medical VISA. The patient has to secure it from the associated embassy. A case executive is always available with the patient to take care of the accommodation, and his treatment abroad. The health tourism is getting popular day by day due to several other reasons like long waiting list and expensive treatments. Read more...
Asia Medical Tourism Analysis
Asia medical tourism industry has been growing with a double digit CAGR and expected to reach US$ 8.5 Billion by 2013. Thailand and India vie with each other for the medical tourism crown. Thailand’s prices are a bit higher on average than India’s, with the main advantages being a better overall tourist experience and more bundling of services. In 2008 ( http://www.bharatbook.com/detail.asp?id=111924&rt=Asia-Medical-Tourism-Analysis-2008-2013.html ) Thailand has treated the highest number of international patients compared to any other Asian countries. But its market share of Asia medical tourist arrivals and medical tourism market is declining year on year is a matter of concern.
India advantages are that it is the cheapest of any of the world medical tourism destinations, while being the equal of the other major destinations in terms of quality of staff, equipment and healthcare procedures.
With many brand new state of the art hospitals and western trained doctors it is easy to see why it is a leader in medical tourism. In 2008 India market shares in Asia medical tourist arrivals was 18.7 percent and it is expected to rise further to nearly 25 percent by 2013. Read more...
