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| Dai Nam Imperial Medicine Institute took the pulse of a tourist |
This figure has surprised many, highlighting the enormous demand for medical treatment among Vietnamese people. It also raises the question: why do our citizens prefer healthcare services abroad? Alongside this concern, the reality also reveals a tremendous opportunity for Vietnam. That is to attract tourism through high-quality medical services, recover billions of dollars lost each year, and redirect external spending into the domestic healthcare and tourism sectors.
Most recently, the topic has heated up again when, at the end of May, Tu Du Hospital and Children’s Hospital 1 (Ho Chi Minh City) successfully performed a fetal intervention, saving the life of a 22-week-old fetus weighing 600 grams, who had a complex congenital heart defect. The mother was a Singaporean citizen.
The event created a major stir. Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan stated that the success of this medical intervention not only gave a chance at life to a fetus, but also marked a significant milestone - a new phase of development that helps position Vietnam as a specialized center for fetal and personalized medicine in Southeast Asia and Asia. It is also considered an initial step toward realizing Vietnam’s aspiration to develop a high-quality medical tourism sector.
Medical tourism is the activity of medical examinations, treatment, surgery, combined with travel, and it is receiving particular attention in Asian countries.
In 2023, Thailand welcomed over 3 million medical tourists, generating more than 850 million USD in revenue. Singapore is also aiming to attract 1 million patients with an annual revenue target of 3 billion USD. In 2023, India received 2 million international patients, earning approximately 6 billion USD, and it aims to increase medical tourism revenue to 13 billion USD by 2026.
Between 2022 and 2023 alone, medical and wellness tourism in Asia experienced impressive growth, reaching a total value of over 41 billion USD. By 2024, this figure had increased to 58 billion USD and is expected to reach 64 billion USD by 2025.
In Vietnam, over the past five years, medical tourism has garnered increasing attention, with various packages combining traditional therapy with eco-tourism, dental services with traditional cuisine, cosmetic surgery, general health care, nutritional counseling, and disease screening (for cancer, cardiovascular conditions, diabetes, etc.). Currently, Ho Chi Minh City leads the country in medical tourism, accounting for 40% of the market. With the current growth trajectory, Vietnam is projected to generate around 2 billion USD annually from health and wellness tourism.
For Hue, along with cultural-heritage tourism, coastal tourism, and spiritual tourism, health and wellness tourism has been identified as one of its strengths. This is clearly exemplified by the 130-year-old brand of Hue Central Hospital, one of four hospitals in the country classified by the Ministry of Health as a high-level specialty center. It leads the nation in implementing advanced techniques, having successfully performed nearly 2,100 organ transplants - placing Vietnam on the global heart transplant map and ranking first in the country for cross-regional transplants. The hospital boasts a medical team of nearly 2,000, including over 200 professors, associate professors, PhDs, and Level II specialized doctors.
Hue also has other potentials for health and wellness tourism, with seven natural hot mineral spring locations and a renowned heritage of royal medicine from the Nguyen Dynasty, now being integrated with a rich natural ecosystem. Other wellness tourism offerings - such as yoga on the Perfume River, slow travel combined with tea meditation, and herbal cuisine - are also gradually operating.
With current trends, the question arises: what kind of investment strategy is needed for Hue’s strength in medical tourism to generate 'billion-dollar' revenue in the future - a service sector tied to a population of 100 million, not to mention overseas Vietnamese and neighboring regional markets?