India needs to identify and develop circuits to cater to health tourists, says a new study. The Government should also offer tax breaks to hospitals to promote medical tourism, it recommends.
The joint study by industry chamber FICCI and YES Bank, released on Sunday, offers a 10-point prescription to boost health and wellness tourism in India.
Titled ‘Health and Wellness Tourism – Advantage India', the study recommends increasing the health tourist base in India through appropriate marketing initiatives especially in the Americas and Europe and developing strong circuits keeping in mind good quality accommodation, hospitals and post treatment recuperative centres.
It also recommends setting up of health care medi-cities on the lines of the Chettinad Health City in Tamil Nadu to further boost the sector.
Other suggestions are making quality accreditations mandatory for Indian hospitals and marketing of alternative forms of wellness packages as follow up recuperative practices to surgery so that health tourists stay longer in the country.