While the availability of medical care is a subject of great debate in the United States, the quality of medical care offered generally is not. Then, when the stomach cancer of Chinese citizen Guo Shushi was incurable in China and quickly killed him, Guo, with the help of a company that specializes in helping Chinese clients seek medical treatment abroad, was in Dana Farber, in Boston, who was being treated with an immunotherapy drug. available in China. "When I arrived, I could feel how big the gap was," Mr. Guo said of the difference in care. However, closing the gap was not cheap; in general, Guo paid $ 220,000 out of pocket to survive stomach cancer.
It is known that China's health care system is plagued with problems of access (and quality problems), but it seems that these problems affect less and less the upper class of China, since they can seek foreign treatment for medical problems.
Medical tourism is not a new idea, although in the past it was associated with medical tourists from the first world who tried to save costs in non-critical jobs, such as plastic surgery or dental treatments. Chinese medical tourists, on the other hand, do not seek to save as much money as they hope to save themselves from the medical results of a health system in the developing world.
In total, Chinese citizens made 500,000 outbound medical trips last year, five times more than the previous year, according to Ctrip.com International, a Chinese travel booking company that offers medical travel on its website.
The private aircraft rental company based in Hong Kong sees a growing interest among ultra-wealthy Chinese individuals in luxury travel abroad for medical and wellness reasons. The main destinations for Chinese medical tourists who tend to be more sensitive to prices are Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. However, the ultra-rich with a personal net worth of at least USD50 million are less sensitive to prices. They prefer to fly in a private jet and are increasingly choosing to travel abroad to Europe and the United States for treatments, medicines and more advanced technologies that are not available in China or the Asia Pacific region.
The market information provider, Global Growth Markets, estimates that outgoing Chinese medical tourism is a market of USD9.7 billion. "Around 4,300 ultra-rich Chinese sought medical care and health treatment abroad in 2015, spending more than USD450 million in IVF, advanced treatments for cancer and heart, stem cell treatments, health checks and wellness programs. On top of that, these ultra rich patients spent more than USD100 million on trips and sightseeing for these medical trips. "We expect this segment to grow faster than the rest of the market, around 30% annually in the coming years, since more than half of these ultra wealthy people will seek treatment abroad in the future," said Pete Read, CEO of Global growth markets.
Source Kaero
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"We are seeing an increasing number of inquiries about private jet flights to France, Germany, Switzerland, the United States and the United Kingdom from our ultra-wealthy Chinese clients for medical tourism, not only are there advanced specialized hospitals in these countries, but also cultural milestones and experiences that are popular among our clientele Sometimes family members travel abroad together for health check-ups and a family vacation, "said the founder and president of L'VOYAGE, Diana Chou.
"To meet the growing trend of wellness and medical tourism, we serve our flight menus with strict dietary instructions upon request and help reserve flights back to the desired private jets for follow-up medical appointments. At this time, many of our ultra-high value Chinese customers take off from Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou airports, but we expect a gradual increase in flights from inland cities such as Dalian, Chengdu and Chongqing, where the population of Ultra-wealthy individuals are expected to grow at a faster rate than other cities. "
Overview of the Chinese outbound Medical Tourism
- Over half a million outbound medical travellers a year
- They spend over 10 bn USD on Treatment and Travel Health care is one of the first concerns of the wealthy Chinese class (HNWI) source MarketingtoChina
