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View all search resultsMedical tourism: Turning the tide for Indonesian patients
The economic value of this medical tourism is conservatively estimated at US$8-10 billion annually, for medical treatment alone.
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Indonesians are no stranger to traveling overseas to seek medical care. Every year, nearly 2 million Indonesian citizens travel overseas for medical purposes, with the vast majority visiting Southeast Asian neighbours, Singapore alone welcoming about 300,000.
The economic value of this medical tourism is conservatively estimated at US$8-10 billion annually, for medical treatment alone. For a country with $35 billion annual healthcare spend, this represents a colossal outflow. If allied services are added, including stay, travel, discretionary spending and loss of livelihood, the total costs are enormous. Turning the tide on this outflow will have major implications for Indonesia’s healthcare ecosystem.
The lure from neighboring healthcare destinations is gaining ground. Understanding the lucrative nature of medical tourism from Indonesia, Southeast Asian neighbors have been actively promoting their healthcare destinations to Indonesian citizens.
The government of Malaysia, under the aegis of MHTC (Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council) has been executing the Healthcare Travel Industry Blueprint with an aim to achieve $400 million healthcare travel revenue by 2025. It also recently mooted the Malaysia Flagship Medical Tourism Hospital Programme, with an aim to elevate the profile of select private hospitals in Malaysia on par with leading world-class medical destinations.
Thailand introduced new medical visa rules in January 2023, reducing the cost of application, allowing multiple entries per year, a maximum 90-day stay and allowing three accompanying family members. Singapore has been actively promoting its medical tourism industry under Singapore Medicine, a multi-agency government-industry partnership including Singapore Tourism Board, Economic Development Board (EDB) and Trade Ministry (MTI), led by the Health Ministry. Private hospitals in Singapore have also been partnering with hospitals in Indonesia to provide advanced care for patients when not available in their home country.
