General Medical Tourism Products and Services in Bangladesh

Abstract

Medical tourism is growing rapidly due in part to increased health awareness throughout the world. Bangladesh has excellent prospects as a medical tourism destination in South Asia. Its potential as a medical tourism destination can be encouraged and exploited by developing appropriate infrastructure plans and marketing strategies. Patients from both developed and developing countries seek to reduce their healthcare expenditures and obtain quality treatment by travelling abroad. Asian countries, such as China, India, Singapore, and Thailand, have pioneered the development of health tourism as a means of earning foreign exchange and use various policies and strategies to attract patients. In spite of its potential, Bangladesh lags in this industry compared to these countries. Largely because sufficient attention has not yet been given to developing policies, plans and marketing strategies to support the industry. Using secondary data sources, this paper explores the present state and future potential of medical tourism products and services in Bangladesh. It also identifies various types of medical tourism products and services and compares medical tourism in Bangladesh to other South Asian counties. Finally, a theoretical analysis of medical tourism investments relative to future outcomes is presented.