The Kingdom of Jordan is promoting its medical industry to US patients in a bid to get a good share of the multibillion medical tourism industry. Jordan, which is predominantly a desert, is poor in natural resources so it is hoping to tap into medical tourism.

Jordan is one of the top 20 destinations for medical tourists in the world and the number one top medical tourism destination in the Arab world. The ranking of Jordan as top medical destination in the Arab World was made by World Bank medical tourism experts according to the President of Private Hospitals Association (PHA), Fawzi Hammouri.

In a statement sent to the Jordan Times, a publication in the Kingdom of Jordan, Hammouri said, ““The medical tourism sector annually generates over $1 billion in revenues and the number of foreign patients seeking treatment in the Kingdom stands at over 200,000 per year”

To maintain Jordan’s ranking as a top medical tourism destination, the country must continuously look for and open new markets in the Arab World as well as in Africa, the United States and Europe. Aside from Arab nations, Jordan has already tapped into the following markets: Russia, Nigeria, Chad, Kazakhstan and the Azerbaijan.

Medical tourism is one industry that continues to help many national economies despite the worsening global economy. It is actually the global economic crisis and the rising cost of healthcare in modernized countries that push patients to travel to foreign countries to receive medical treatment.