The Philippines will plan to launch medical tourism amid the Covid-19 pandemic to highlight the importance of medical tourism and healthcare.
Currently, the Philippines is taking steps to raise public awareness of medical tourism in the global market. The Philippine government is implementing a calibrated approach to developing medical tourism destinations; developing an internal ecosystem and a network of facilities in the country to address the concerns and issues surrounding this tourism product.
Medical tourism is invested to serve the purpose of improving health, attracting foreign tourists, and developing the economy of the Philippines. Experts also believe that the tourism industry needs to coordinate with the health sector to come up with solutions to expand this type of tourism trend.
Boracay Island - tourist paradise of the Philippines
“With its system of quality hospitals, facilities, skilled medical staff and hospitality, the Philippines is poised to become an attractive destination for medical tourism,” said Philippine Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat recently.
In addition, the Philippine Department of Tourism has developed a “gold standard in health and safety access for meetings, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) events” including criteria such as: standardizing services and medical examination and treatment procedures at tourism facilities; having policies to encourage investment, building quality health care tourism areas, and promoting more widely developed tourism types.
Tourists at Boracay Island, Philippines. Photo: Reuters
Last February, the Philippine government launched the Resbakuna sa Botika program in the tourist island of Boracay, partnering with the country’s leading pharmacy chain to administer booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines to locals and tourists. As a result, the vaccination rate among Philippine tourism workers has now reached 98%.
The Philippine tourism industry is gradually recovering after more than two years of stagnation due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Philippine Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat affirmed that all stakeholders, including the state and private sectors, are working hard to bring revenue and tourist numbers back to pre-pandemic levels.
