An increase in investments in medical tourism and in the number of foreign visitors coming to Greece for the purpose were among the trends identified for the next five years at a conference held in Heraklion last week. Dedicated to the promotion of Greek Assisted Reproduction Technologies abroad, the conference was organised by the Greek Health Tourism Council – Elitour – at the premises of the Heraklion Chamber of Commerce. Speakers estimated that health and wellbeing tourists spend 60 per cent more than the average tourist. Noting that at least 5,000 people already come to Greece annually for assisted reproduction, they said that there was scope for major growth in other branches of health tourism also.
“For the region of Crete, health tourism is one of the important priorities of our planning in support of the island’s tourist sector,” the Regional Governor of Crete Stavros Arnautakis said in his introductory speech. “A priority which is supported by private-sector cooperation (hotels, medical centres) with public health providers and the university (medical schools, research centres). Crete is in a privileged situation in this sector, since the operation of large hospital units and specialised medical services such as those for assisted reproduction tourism, is an area in which Crete has made truly major steps. Pioneering medical centres and leading scientists are creating a groundbreaking incubator for medical tourism.”
It is clear that health and wellbeing tourism can constitute an important driver of economic development in many parts of the country, said the Regional Governor of Attica Giorgos Patoulis, who is also president of the Athens Medical Association and of Elitour. “Things are moving and medical tourism is now creating greater opportunities, with the result that we are seeing more entrants into the field. At the base are the excellent medical personnel and the continually improving infrastructure,” he told APE-MPE.
In the next five years the results of this effort will become tangible, and the country will rise in the international ranking, Mr Patoulis suggested. “We will rise from 5th place, where we are at present in assisted reproduction, and we will rise in other sectors such as ophthalmology and cosmetic and robotic surgery. When we began this effort, people were going abroad for surgery, and now patients are coming here from abroad to be operated on.”
Dr Giorgos Patoulis is the President of Elitour – the Greek Medical Tourism Council, which is associated with the Greek National Tourism Organisation (GNTO/EOT). He is also Regional Governor of Attica and president of the Athens Medical Association.
In a statement on Elitour’s website, Mr Patoulis says: “In Hellenic hospitals, the 4th Industrial Revolution – the era of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, robotics, the Internet of Things and precision medicine – is already a reality.
“Greece is THE destination for health tourism which can bring significant growth and economic prosperity as it is evolving rapidly and continuously worldwide.“
He made special reference to wellbeing tourism, which is chiefly related to people who are past middle age and are prepared to spend valuable time and money to improve their overall quality of life through correct nutrition, exercise and wellbeing activities in an attractive environment such as Greece. “It is aimed chiefly at healthy citizens of the world who after the pandemic have seen their way of life in a different light. They want to buy time and to live well in organised wellbeing centres, such as we are already planning in Attica,” he concluded.
Medical tourism and wellbeing tourism are an overall experience which we offer visitors, and which we are all involved in in some way, the minister for Agricultural Development and Food Lefteris Avgenakis told APE-MPE. Such services are inevitably part of a team effort which also involves the primary sector, as the suppliers of appropriate food. For his part the deputy minister for Development Marios Senetakis stressed that medical tourism has great investment potential linked with the extension of the tourist season.
Referring to the inauguration of an assisted reproduction unit in Heraklion, the general secretary of the Hellenic Society of Reproductive Medicine and vice-president of Elitour, Constantinos Pantos, told the conference that the aim is “to attract to our country couples who are having problems in conceiving … and to offer them high-level services. The state needs to take steps to provide incentives to people travelling to our country for medical tourism, e.g. by reducing VAT on their air tickets and giving them other facilities, with the state thereby benefiting from all their other activities, accommodation, catering and the medical services they are offered.”
Haniotika Nea 17/07/23, APE-MPE