Taiwan Attracts Medical Tourist from China and Japan

Tagged: asia, China, Hainan Airlines, Health travel, HMA Life Insurance Company, Medical Tourism, Shin Kong Life Insurance Co, taiwan

Every year, over 2 million tourists from Japan and China go to Taiwan. This is why Taiwan is targeting Japanese and Chinese patients for its medical tourism industry. Other Asian countries are looking to attract patients from America and Europe.

While the economy of the US seems to be recovering very slowly, the economy of China is expected to grow this year. The economy of Japan also remains strong despite the slowdown in industrial output in 2008. It seems that Japan’s economy is also starting to recover very quickly.

One of the main reasons Taiwan is targeting citizens from these countries for its medical tourism industry is the proximity of the two countries to Taiwan. Taiwan also has the language and the culture common with China which will make it an even more attractive destination for patients than other Asian countries. Without language and cultural barriers, Chinese patients will definitely feel more at ease receiving medical treatments in Taiwan than other countries. Because many Chinese citizens are not covered under medical insurance, many of the medical treatments can be expensive for the average Chinese.

At the moment, the Shin Kong Hospital has already signed an agreement with the Shin Kong and HMA Life Insurance Company, China’s Hainan Airlines and Taiwan’s Shin Kong Life Insurance Co. for MJ Health Screening and SweetMe Hotspring Resort to arrange the visit of policyholders and employees of these companies to travel to Taiwan for medical tourism. The goal is for a group of 30 medical tourists from China to travel to Taiwan each month to receive treatments.

Taiwan is still behind in terms of marketing its medical tourism industry. Tight regulations are also limiting their services and their marketing efforts.