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The spa industry is evolving rapidly thanks to a changing scenario full of challenges and opportunities. This week, we would like to talk about medical tourism by bringing into discussion some of the insights provided by the journalist Reyes Rincon on her article ‘Need surgery? Come to Spain’<\/em> published in El Pais. While we will be highlighting the potential that medical tourism offers in Spain, we can see that \u201cmedical\u201d, \u201chealth\u201d and \u201cwellness\u201d tourism continue to take momentum. Let’s have a look.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n La industria del spa est\u00e1 evolucionando r\u00e1pidamente gracias a un cambiante entorno lleno de retos y oportunidades. Esta semana nos gustar\u00eda hablar sobre el turismo m\u00e9dico trayendo a esta discusi\u00f3n algunos de las reflexiones elaboradas por la periodista Reyes Rincon en su art\u00edculo ‘Need surgery? Come to Spain’<\/em>, publicado por el diario El Pa\u00eds. Si bien destacaremos el potencial que ofrece el turismo m\u00e9dico en Espa\u00f1a, podremos ver el modo en que el turismo “m\u00e9dico”, “de salud” y “wellness” est\u00e1 ganando momentum. Vamos a echar un vistazo.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Overview of Medical Tourism<\/strong><\/p>\n Medical tourism combines the expertise of the medical field with the services provided by the travel, leisure and hotel industries. Consequently, countries with good, low-cost healthcare systems that happen to be attractive tourist destinations represent the best places for medical tourism to flourish. This is exactly why medical tourism has gained terrain in countries like Mexico, Turkey and Spain.<\/p>\n In the last decade, medical tourism has experience a significant increase. The current crisis of healthcare systems around the world and the arrival of new customers who want to stay healthy during their holidays are only some of the reasons behind this recent boom of medical tourism. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), medical tourism is worth 75 billion Euros worldwide.<\/p>\n The increase of medical tourism has been parallel to the increase of wellbeing tourism. While the former is mostly related to treatments in hospital and clinics, the latter focuses on the health-related services provided by spas and wellness centres. Such an increase is tightly related to the synergies we have built with the medical field as well as our own focus on the benefits that our treatments and therapies can offer to patients with different kinds of conditions.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Spanish Healthcare System<\/strong><\/p>\n Thanks to the low cost and high quality of the different treatments offered by its healthcare system, Spain is one of the most interesting fields for medical tourism. In fact, foreign patients looking for treatments in Spain can save between 30% and 70% of the costs associated to those treatments. According to the US Medical Tourism Corporation, a provider of medical healthcare services, “cosmetic surgery costs around 60 percent more in the UK than it does in Spain, and prices for knee or hip replacements are around half what they are in Britain.”<\/p>\n In terms of its quality, the Spanish healthcare system is seventh in the ranking of the World Health Organization. Additionally, the Spanish healthcare system is made of a solid infrastructure of hospitals and clinics filled with well-trained professionals. As far as medical tourism goes, “both private and state medical facilities in Spain have departments dedicated specifically to medical tourists coming over to receive healthcare in Spain.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Comprehensive Approach<\/strong><\/p>\n At different points in the past, we have argued in favour of comprehensive approaches capable of bringing different contributions from various fields. We believe medical tourism can also take advantage of this kind of approach. We strongly believe that the active participation of different industries, including our own field, will help to move medical tourism to the next level.<\/p>\n There is, in fact, an increasing understanding about this comprehensive approach. For instance, a recent initiative aimed at transforming Spain’s Costa del Sol into the centre of medical tourism is based on a model nurtured by different contributions. As explained by Dr. Such, head of cardiovascular surgery at Malaga’s Clinico Universitario hospital, “the idea is that healthcare centers, along with health food and drug companies in the area, will come together under the Malaga Health banner to provide a range of services that share a guarantee of quality.”<\/p>\n We believe the consolidation of similar approaches will allow the spa and wellness industries to fully embrace medical tourism as a real business opportunity. Considering the way our industry is evolving, the health-related benefits that spas and wellness centres can provide and the synergies we are forging with the medical field, we believe medical tourism offers an exciting opportunity for our industry. We should continue to embrace it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Visi\u00f3n general del turismo m\u00e9dico<\/strong><\/p>\n El turismo m\u00e9dico combina la experiencia del campo de la medicina con los servicios ofrecidos por la industrias de viajes, ocio y hotelera. En consecuencia, aquellos pa\u00edses que cuentan con sistemas de salud buenos y de bajo coste, y que adem\u00e1s resultan ser destinos tur\u00edsticos atractivos, representan los terrenos m\u00e1s f\u00e9rtiles para el desarrollo del turismo m\u00e9dico. A esto se debe que el turismo m\u00e9dico haya ganado fuerza en pa\u00edses como M\u00e9xico, Turqu\u00eda y Espa\u00f1a.<\/p>\n En la \u00faltima d\u00e9cada, el turismo m\u00e9dico ha experimentado un aumento importante. La crisis actual de los sistemas sanitarios en todo el mundo y la llegada de nuevos clientes que quieren mantenerse en forma y sanos durante sus vacaciones, son s\u00f3lo algunas de las razones que est\u00e1n detr\u00e1s de este reciente auge del turismo m\u00e9dico. Seg\u00fan la Organizaci\u00f3n para la Cooperaci\u00f3n y el Desarrollo Econ\u00f3micos (OCDE), el turismo m\u00e9dico genera 75 mil millones de euros en todo el mundo.<\/p>\n El aumento del turismo m\u00e9dico ha sido paralelo al incremento del turismo de wellness. Mientras que el primero se relaciona primordialmente con tratamientos en hospitales y cl\u00ednicas, el segundo se centra en los servicios de salud proporcionados por spas y centros de wellness. Dicho aumento est\u00e1 estrechamente relacionado con las sinergias que hemos construido con el campo de la medicina, as\u00ed como nuestro propio enfoque sobre los los beneficios que nuestros tratamientos y terapias pueden ofrecer a pacientes con diferentes tipos de condiciones.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n El sistema sanitario espa\u00f1ol<\/strong><\/p>\n Gracias al bajo coste y a la alta calidad de los diferentes tratamientos que ofrece su sistema de salud, Espa\u00f1a es uno de los lugares m\u00e1s interesantes para el turismo m\u00e9dico. De hecho, los pacientes extranjeros que buscan tratamientos en Espa\u00f1a pueden ahorrar entre un 30% y un 70% de los costes asociados con dichos tratamientos. De acuerdo con la Corporaci\u00f3n de Turismo M\u00e9dico de los Estados Unidos, un proveedor de servicios m\u00e9dicos de salud, “la cirug\u00eda est\u00e9tica cuesta alrededor de un 60% m\u00e1s en el Reino Unido que en Espa\u00f1a, y los precios por reemplazos de rodilla o cadera cuestan cerca de la mitad de lo que valen en el Reino Unido”.<\/p>\n En t\u00e9rminos de calidad, el sistema sanitario espa\u00f1ol ocupa el s\u00e9ptimo lugar en el ranking de la Organizaci\u00f3n Mundial de la Salud. Adem\u00e1s, el sistema sanitario espa\u00f1ol est\u00e1 conformado por una infraestructura s\u00f3lida de hospitales y cl\u00ednicas que cuentan con profesionales bien preparados. Con respecto al turismo m\u00e9dico, “tanto los centros m\u00e9dicos privados como los entes estatales en Espa\u00f1a cuentan con departamentos dedicados espec\u00edficamente a aquellos turistas que llegan a recibir asistencia sanitaria en Espa\u00f1a”.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Enfoque Integral<\/strong><\/p>\n En varias ocasiones, nos hemos pronunciado a favor de enfoques integrales capaces de nutrirse de diferentes contribuciones provenientes de distintos campos. Creemos que el turismo m\u00e9dico tambi\u00e9n puede sacar provecho de este tipo de enfoque. Estamos convencidos que una participaci\u00f3n activa de diferentes industrias, incluyendo la nuestra, ayudar\u00e1 a que el turismo m\u00e9dico se mueva hacia un nivel m\u00e1s alto.<\/p>\n Hay, de hecho, una mayor comprensi\u00f3n acerca de este enfoque integral. Por ejemplo, una reciente iniciativa en Espa\u00f1a destinada a transformar la Costa del Sol en el centro del turismo m\u00e9dico se basa en un modelo alimentado por diferentes tipos de contribuciones. De acuerdo con el Dr. Such, jefe de cirug\u00eda cardiovascular del hospital Cl\u00ednico Universitario de M\u00e1laga, “la idea es que los centros de salud junto a las compa\u00f1\u00edas farmace\u00faticas y de comida sana, se re\u00fanan bajo el manto de la Salud de M\u00e1laga para ofrecer una gama de servicios que compartan una garant\u00eda de calidad”.<\/p>\n Creemos que la consolidaci\u00f3n de enfoques similares permitir\u00e1 a las industrias de spa y wellness poder abrazar plenamente el turismo m\u00e9dico como una oportunidad de negocio real. Teniendo en cuenta la forma en que nuestra industria est\u00e1 evolucionando, los beneficios de salud que los spas y centros de wellness pueden ofrecer y las sinergias que estamos forjando con el campo de la medicina, creemos que el turismo m\u00e9dico brinda una gran oportunidad para nuestra industria. Debemos continuar explorando esta opci\u00f3n.<\/p>\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The spa industry is evolving rapidly thanks to a changing scenario full of challenges and opportunities. This week, we would like to talk about medical tourism by bringing into discussion some of the insights provided by the journalist Reyes Rincon on her article ‘Need surgery? Come to Spain’ published in El Pais. While we […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[434,487,437,488,152],"class_list":["post-2348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spa-and-wellness-trends","tag-medical-tourism","tag-spain","tag-turismo-medico","tag-turismo-wellness","tag-wellness-tourism"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n