Despite the setbacks experienced during 2005 because of the drop in tourist arrivals to the island, one area that has continued to blossom is health tourism. Growth in this sector is estimated at nearly 20% and rising.

It's not just the hospitals, dental clinics and spas that are benefiting from this boom. Health tourists generally stay much longer than the average tourist, sometimes months at a time, while they soak up the sun and recover from their surgery.

These extended visits put much needed income into the pockets of hotels, restaurants and the local tour industry and health tourists regularly spend more than the average package tourist. If you can afford to spend hundreds of thousands of baht on a surgical procedure, you generally won’t be staying in a three star hotel.

Health tourists also demand that their holidays yield more than just a tan and some pretty photos. A trip away is not only for R&R, but a chance for a real life-altering experience, whether it be a spiritual awakening or a physical transformation. Tans fade quickly, but the benefits of a good medical treatment can last for years, even a lifetime.

The increase in demand for Health Tourism in Phuket is linked to rising healthcare costs and long waiting lists for surgery in the tourists own country. In Australia for example, some patients are waiting over a year to have hip surgery, a wait that is often both painful and impacts considerably on their quality of life.

An alternative is to immediately book into one of Phuket’s private hospitals, have the surgery, recover beside a five-star resort’s pool sipping a favourite cocktail and then return home a new person, all at a cost far less than private hospital care in Australia.

But it’s not just surgery that is attracting the health tourist. Dental work, health checkups, acupuncture, spa and wellness programs are all experiencing increasing demand.

Couple this with the wealth of luxury resorts, an excellent dining and nightlife scene and numerous leisure activities and it becomes obvious that tourists are looking at a range of products to fill their itineraries beyond the treatment.

An increasing number of travel agencies are working directly with the hospitals and clinics to provide a one-stop service, including ground and air transfers, hospital and hotel bookings, a round of golf, scenic tour or whatever the patient requires.

These travel services are not only located in Phuket but are often in the patient’s own county and specialise in providing dental or plastic surgery holidays, all neatly packaged into a professional product.

A quick internet search will soon reveal how many of these service providers are available. Phuket’s private hospitals are well aware of this expanding niche market, and with the Thai governments support for the island to become a medical hub of Asia, the future looks very promising.

Private hospitals are now targeting specific countries including Sweden, Australia and America to market their services, with companies in these countries keen to build alliances with Phuket’s private hospitals.

The island’s private hospitals already have occupancy rates that are the envy of many hoteliers and if the number of health tourists continues to rise at current rates, it won’t be long before more hospital beds will be required in Phuket.

Peter Davison is the Manager International Services at Phuket International Hospital. Questions or comments may be sent by email to peter@phuket-inter-hospital.co.th or by fax to 076 210936 www.phuket-international-hospital.com