The Dubai Health Authority (DHA) signed on April 25th, 2017 a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Retreat Palm Dubai MGallery by Sofitel Hotel with an aim to drive wellness tourism in the region.
This collaboration is in line with the vision of the Dubai Health Experience, which is overseen and implemented by the DHA.
DXH was launched in April 2016 by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, as a continuation of ‘Dubai, a Global Destination for Medical Tourism’ project.
DXH is a highly integrated programme that aims to promote Dubai as a global centre for the provision of medical tourism services with a target of attracting half a million international patients by 2020.
It is estimated that numbers will increase around 13% per year and that by 2021 over 1.3 million medical tourists will visit Dubai.
His Excellency Humaid Al Qatami, Chairman of the Board and Director-General of the Dubai Health Authority, said: “Our strategy is focused on building strong ties with Dubai’s finest healthcare providers to create an unparalleled experience for medical tourists.
DXH group comprises today of 45 healthcare facilities in Dubai and the addition of this provider reflects our recognition of the importance of the wellness industry which aids preventative healthcare. Healthy eating and exercise are the pillars of good health and incorporating wellness in the hospitality industry is a positive trend.”
Dr. Layla Al Marzouqi, Director – The Medical Tourism Council, commented “We aspire to position Dubai as the first medical tourism destination in the MENA region and to be among the top 10 medical tourism destinations in the world where DXH will be the ultimate gateway to the finest medical experts, premier accredited healthcare facilities whilst providing an incredibly unique experience in the iconic city of Dubai and wellness plays an important part of this vision.”
Samir Arora, General Manager, The Retreat Palm Dubai MGallery by Sofitel, said : In line with Dubai’s endeavor to climb up the healthcare as well as wellness tourism ranks and to establish the city as a medical and wellness tourism destination, we are proud to be a pioneer in introducing an all new unique concept in the region – the first holistic health and wellness resort and are very excited to become a strategic partner of Dubai Health Authority as the first Wellness Retreat in the Middle East.
We are confident our partnership will strengthen Dubai’s reputation as the most desired destination not only among leisure, business travellers, but also among healthcare and wellness oriented visitors from around the globe, including GCC, Europe, Russia and other CIS countries.
Tourism, Travel, Hospitality, Conservation: News,Stories And Experiences From Allover The World
Showing posts with label Dubai Health Authority. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dubai Health Authority. Show all posts
Tuesday, 27 June 2017
UAE: UAE Breaks Into Established Medical Tourism Markets
Dubai Healthcare City opened in 2002, medical tourism has been high on the agenda of the Dubai government.
But since the launch of its medical tourism vision in 2014, when plans were announced to attract half a million medical tourists by 2020, statistics from Dubai Health Authority (DHA) revealed that in 2015, there were 630,831 medical tourists including domestic and international patients.
Of them, international tourists numbered 298,359, accounting for 46% of the total traffic.
According to Medical Tourism Wellness Council consultant Linda Abdulla, medical tourism is playing a significant role in boosting Dubai’s economy by attracting visitors from all across the globe. This could potentially boost the economy by AED 2.6 billion (US $0.71bn) a year by 2020 with an increase in the annual revenue by 13% every year in the next four years, she says.
When we submitted Dubai’s medical tourism strategy to the Executive Council in 2014, our initial expectation for 2016 was to attract 170,000 medical tourists. However, our reports show that we exceeded our milestone for the year,Abdulla noted.
With the increased emphasis on medical tourism, the potential of hotel-hospital partnerships is rearing its head.
In countries like Thailand and Mexico, where medical tourism has taken off, some hotels offer special amenities targeted at medical consumers, such as on-site labs for blood work, pool lifts, extra electrical outlets or varying table heights to accommodate patients in wheelchairs. UAE is trying to break into these established medical tourism markets.
Time Royal Hotel which is set to open in Dubai Healthcare City in 2017 is hoping to tap into the global medical tourism demand. Time Hotels CEO Mohamed Awadalla told Hotelier how the hotel plans to set itself apart from other competition located in and around Dubai Healthcare City.
At Time Royal Hotel, we will have a medical team present at the hotel with a dedicated medical receptionist. There are 22 specially furnished suites equipped with hotel beds, with provision for out-patient procedures, such as dialysis.
There will be a consultation room and kitchenette facility as well as a spa, which will provide medical support and therapeutic treatments and medical exercises,he said.
The needs of its patients/guests is factored into Time’s hospitality strategy. Our brand promise is to place the guest at the very centre of everything we do; this will be no different from a medical perspective. On a daily basis we place the utmost importance on customer service excellence, respect and teamwork. This will be carried into Time Royal Hotel & Spa to ensure every guest feels welcomed and comfortable in what can often be a traumatic time, particularly after major surgery, Awadalla added.
A special team with a medical background will be present at the hotel to assist with all basic needs of the patients. It will also provide 24/7 assistance through affiliated health and medical centres for patients staying on-property.
According to Awadalla, most established medical tourism markets have special tie-ups with nearby hospitals to offer their patients discount deals or medical packages.
We strongly believe that partnerships and sponsorship are key to attracting medical tourists and so it is important we are affiliated with medical centres in the nearby vicinity to offer guests maximum resources and services.
To that end, we will tailor packages with health care providers, while we will also have the capability to host medical seminars,he said.
With a strategy to increase medical tourism numbers, Dubai has come up with a digital plan to woo medical tourists. Since April 2016, international medical tourists have been able to book their procedures online, along with a range of healthcare-related services at a newly launched web portal.
Dubai Health Experience (DXH) which provides health, travel, hospitality and visa services online, and the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) portal enables people to log on to the website and book procedure packages,including wellness, cosmetic and dental services, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, physiotherapy and specialised medical tests at any one of 26 private and public hospitals in Dubai so far participating in the programme. DXH also allows guests to access other incentives, such as discounted hotel stays.
Travel agents and travel partners play a very important role in promoting medical tourism as they are the first point of contact for any traveller. Strategic partnerships with local healthcare authorities and facilities will be an important factor for any travel agent to excel in medical tourism and create develop customised travel packages, work on response time and also ensure smooth patient journey, Abdulla says.
Medical tourists can find the right healthcare packages customised by travel partners, which include flight bookings, hotel accommodation and other ground services.
According to DXH, travel agencies and ground handling partners can plan the trip for the accompanying family members at the same time and ensure that the stay is more like a rejuvenating holiday experience.
But since the launch of its medical tourism vision in 2014, when plans were announced to attract half a million medical tourists by 2020, statistics from Dubai Health Authority (DHA) revealed that in 2015, there were 630,831 medical tourists including domestic and international patients.
Of them, international tourists numbered 298,359, accounting for 46% of the total traffic.
According to Medical Tourism Wellness Council consultant Linda Abdulla, medical tourism is playing a significant role in boosting Dubai’s economy by attracting visitors from all across the globe. This could potentially boost the economy by AED 2.6 billion (US $0.71bn) a year by 2020 with an increase in the annual revenue by 13% every year in the next four years, she says.
When we submitted Dubai’s medical tourism strategy to the Executive Council in 2014, our initial expectation for 2016 was to attract 170,000 medical tourists. However, our reports show that we exceeded our milestone for the year,Abdulla noted.
With the increased emphasis on medical tourism, the potential of hotel-hospital partnerships is rearing its head.
In countries like Thailand and Mexico, where medical tourism has taken off, some hotels offer special amenities targeted at medical consumers, such as on-site labs for blood work, pool lifts, extra electrical outlets or varying table heights to accommodate patients in wheelchairs. UAE is trying to break into these established medical tourism markets.
Time Royal Hotel which is set to open in Dubai Healthcare City in 2017 is hoping to tap into the global medical tourism demand. Time Hotels CEO Mohamed Awadalla told Hotelier how the hotel plans to set itself apart from other competition located in and around Dubai Healthcare City.
At Time Royal Hotel, we will have a medical team present at the hotel with a dedicated medical receptionist. There are 22 specially furnished suites equipped with hotel beds, with provision for out-patient procedures, such as dialysis.
There will be a consultation room and kitchenette facility as well as a spa, which will provide medical support and therapeutic treatments and medical exercises,he said.
The needs of its patients/guests is factored into Time’s hospitality strategy. Our brand promise is to place the guest at the very centre of everything we do; this will be no different from a medical perspective. On a daily basis we place the utmost importance on customer service excellence, respect and teamwork. This will be carried into Time Royal Hotel & Spa to ensure every guest feels welcomed and comfortable in what can often be a traumatic time, particularly after major surgery, Awadalla added.
A special team with a medical background will be present at the hotel to assist with all basic needs of the patients. It will also provide 24/7 assistance through affiliated health and medical centres for patients staying on-property.
According to Awadalla, most established medical tourism markets have special tie-ups with nearby hospitals to offer their patients discount deals or medical packages.
We strongly believe that partnerships and sponsorship are key to attracting medical tourists and so it is important we are affiliated with medical centres in the nearby vicinity to offer guests maximum resources and services.
To that end, we will tailor packages with health care providers, while we will also have the capability to host medical seminars,he said.
With a strategy to increase medical tourism numbers, Dubai has come up with a digital plan to woo medical tourists. Since April 2016, international medical tourists have been able to book their procedures online, along with a range of healthcare-related services at a newly launched web portal.
Dubai Health Experience (DXH) which provides health, travel, hospitality and visa services online, and the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) portal enables people to log on to the website and book procedure packages,including wellness, cosmetic and dental services, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, physiotherapy and specialised medical tests at any one of 26 private and public hospitals in Dubai so far participating in the programme. DXH also allows guests to access other incentives, such as discounted hotel stays.
Travel agents and travel partners play a very important role in promoting medical tourism as they are the first point of contact for any traveller. Strategic partnerships with local healthcare authorities and facilities will be an important factor for any travel agent to excel in medical tourism and create develop customised travel packages, work on response time and also ensure smooth patient journey, Abdulla says.
Medical tourists can find the right healthcare packages customised by travel partners, which include flight bookings, hotel accommodation and other ground services.
According to DXH, travel agencies and ground handling partners can plan the trip for the accompanying family members at the same time and ensure that the stay is more like a rejuvenating holiday experience.
Thursday, 8 June 2017
UAE: 326,649 Medical Tourists Visited UAE In 2016
Dubai generated over Dh1.4 billion from the medical tourism sector with around 326,649 tourists visiting the emirate last year, said Dubai Health Authority (DHA) on Tuesday.
The influx of tourists marked a 9.5 per cent increase over previous years and the most popular areas of treatment were orthopaedics, dermatology and ophthalmology, said Dr Laila Al Marzouqi, director of Dubai Medical Tourism Project.
The largest market for the emirate was Asian medical tourists, who accounted for 37 per cent of visitors.
Arab and GCC countries were the second largest market, accounting for 31 per cent of tourists and visitors from Europe amounted to 15 per cent of the total, added Dr Al Marzouqi.
Al Marzouqi said her department was looking at enhancing partner portfolio in the field with more collaborations. Besides targeting growth in numbers, we are also concentrating our efforts on enhancing our partner portfolio.
We have recently included the region’s first holistic health and wellness resort in our portfolio.
This will provide the health tourist a unique opportunity to avail the complete wellness offering in Dubai.
We have also partnered with The Health Bank in a strategic initiative to enhancing the customer experience by offering end-to-end services — right from research of doctors and health facilities to treatment, accommodation, translator services and post-treatment follow-up,” she pointed out.
In a bid to strengthen their position in the medical tourism market, Dubai has participated in a number of global events. The Medical Tourism Council (MTC) represented the emirate at ITB Berlin 2017. One key market for Dubai is Africa and in March, Dubai Health Experience (DXH) participated in the Dubai-Africa Partnership for Better Health Roadshow, with visits to Nigeria and Ghana.
Approximately, 15 health care providers attended, along with a number of travel agents, who promoted the Dubai as a destination and the city’s international medical expertise.
In April, DHA also participated in the 5th Shanghai International Private Health Management Expo 2017. The organisation also held a series of roadshows across the GCC, in association with the Ministry of Economy, under the umbrella of the Visit UAE campaign.
In April, the tourism council also participated in the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai, and signed MoUs with The Retreat Palm Dubai – M Gallery by Sofitel as well as The Health Bank.
To ensure that the emirate has an accurate understanding of the medical tourism market in Dubai, in 2015, the Medical Tourism Council initiated a collaboration with the Dubai Statistics Centre to collect patients’ data from the private health sector, outpatient clinics and polyclinics.
The private health care sector was mandated to collate key information on their patients, such as their age, gender, nationality and city of residence.
Private centres are required to submit data periodically to the Dubai Statistics Centre’s e-source, electronic system. The statistics are then used to develop a greater understanding of medical tourism trends so that Dubai can meet visitors’ needs as the medical tourism sector expands.
International and domestic medical tourism
Domestic
2015: 332,474
2016: 323,893
International
2015: 298,359
2016: 326,659
Main age group
25-45 years
The influx of tourists marked a 9.5 per cent increase over previous years and the most popular areas of treatment were orthopaedics, dermatology and ophthalmology, said Dr Laila Al Marzouqi, director of Dubai Medical Tourism Project.
The largest market for the emirate was Asian medical tourists, who accounted for 37 per cent of visitors.
Arab and GCC countries were the second largest market, accounting for 31 per cent of tourists and visitors from Europe amounted to 15 per cent of the total, added Dr Al Marzouqi.
Al Marzouqi said her department was looking at enhancing partner portfolio in the field with more collaborations. Besides targeting growth in numbers, we are also concentrating our efforts on enhancing our partner portfolio.
We have recently included the region’s first holistic health and wellness resort in our portfolio.
This will provide the health tourist a unique opportunity to avail the complete wellness offering in Dubai.
We have also partnered with The Health Bank in a strategic initiative to enhancing the customer experience by offering end-to-end services — right from research of doctors and health facilities to treatment, accommodation, translator services and post-treatment follow-up,” she pointed out.
In a bid to strengthen their position in the medical tourism market, Dubai has participated in a number of global events. The Medical Tourism Council (MTC) represented the emirate at ITB Berlin 2017. One key market for Dubai is Africa and in March, Dubai Health Experience (DXH) participated in the Dubai-Africa Partnership for Better Health Roadshow, with visits to Nigeria and Ghana.
Approximately, 15 health care providers attended, along with a number of travel agents, who promoted the Dubai as a destination and the city’s international medical expertise.
In April, DHA also participated in the 5th Shanghai International Private Health Management Expo 2017. The organisation also held a series of roadshows across the GCC, in association with the Ministry of Economy, under the umbrella of the Visit UAE campaign.
In April, the tourism council also participated in the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai, and signed MoUs with The Retreat Palm Dubai – M Gallery by Sofitel as well as The Health Bank.
To ensure that the emirate has an accurate understanding of the medical tourism market in Dubai, in 2015, the Medical Tourism Council initiated a collaboration with the Dubai Statistics Centre to collect patients’ data from the private health sector, outpatient clinics and polyclinics.
The private health care sector was mandated to collate key information on their patients, such as their age, gender, nationality and city of residence.
Private centres are required to submit data periodically to the Dubai Statistics Centre’s e-source, electronic system. The statistics are then used to develop a greater understanding of medical tourism trends so that Dubai can meet visitors’ needs as the medical tourism sector expands.
International and domestic medical tourism
Domestic
2015: 332,474
2016: 323,893
International
2015: 298,359
2016: 326,659
Main age group
25-45 years
Wednesday, 27 April 2016
UAE:Emirates,Dubai Health Authority To Promote Medical Tourism
Al Qatami (L) and Sheikh Ahmed (R) sign the MoU
Emirates and Dubai Health Authority (DHA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in order to promote medical tourism in Dubai and fulfill the emirate’s goal of attracting 500,000 medical tourists by the year 2020.
HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group and Humaid Mohammad Al Qatami, chairman of the board and director-general of DHA signed the MOU on the sidelines of the Arab Travel Market on Tuesday.
The aim of the MoU is to cultivate Emirates' international status and widespread travel routes to fulfil the medical tourism project, Dubai Health Experience (DXH), launched by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum , Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council.
As part of the MoU, Emirates packages and tickets can be booked through DXH’s website www.dxh.ae, which is a first-of-its-kind website that has all the relevant medical tourism information including: medical tourism packages, tickets and hotel booking etc. under a single portal.
The medical services include but are not limited to surgery, orthopedics, ophthalmology, dental, treatments and specialised tests, to name a few.
Sheikh Ahmed said: “Emirates remains committed to government and private sector initiatives that promote Dubai as a global hub for trade, tourism and sport. We are pleased to be working with DHA to make Dubai the preferred destination for medical tourism through our extensive global network covering the six continents."
Al Qatami said Emirates is DHA’s strategic partner, adding that the airline is one of the main supporters of the authority’s objective to revitalise medical tourism and make Dubai the preferred destination for medical tourism.
He also said that the MoU reflects the unlimited support of Sheikh Ahmed towards the authorities’ projects and objectives stressing that Sheikh Ahmad’s support is considered an important incentive to the success of the project.
HH Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group and Humaid Mohammad Al Qatami, chairman of the board and director-general of DHA signed the MOU on the sidelines of the Arab Travel Market on Tuesday.
The aim of the MoU is to cultivate Emirates' international status and widespread travel routes to fulfil the medical tourism project, Dubai Health Experience (DXH), launched by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum , Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council.
As part of the MoU, Emirates packages and tickets can be booked through DXH’s website www.dxh.ae, which is a first-of-its-kind website that has all the relevant medical tourism information including: medical tourism packages, tickets and hotel booking etc. under a single portal.
The medical services include but are not limited to surgery, orthopedics, ophthalmology, dental, treatments and specialised tests, to name a few.
Sheikh Ahmed said: “Emirates remains committed to government and private sector initiatives that promote Dubai as a global hub for trade, tourism and sport. We are pleased to be working with DHA to make Dubai the preferred destination for medical tourism through our extensive global network covering the six continents."
Al Qatami said Emirates is DHA’s strategic partner, adding that the airline is one of the main supporters of the authority’s objective to revitalise medical tourism and make Dubai the preferred destination for medical tourism.
He also said that the MoU reflects the unlimited support of Sheikh Ahmed towards the authorities’ projects and objectives stressing that Sheikh Ahmad’s support is considered an important incentive to the success of the project.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)