Dr. Cambiaso: health travel is a strategy of diversifying our tourism offer
Medical travel belongs to a broader strategy from the Dominican government of diversifying the country’s tourism offer, stated Dr. Alejandro Cambiaso.
“The Dominican Republic’s President, Danilo Medina, has bet on the tourism sector and called it the ‘locomotive’ of development, said Dr. Cambiaso at an interview given to Fitur TV, broadcasted on Youtube.
As a leader in Caribbean tourism and pioneers in Latin America, the island participated for the first time as Partner Country at the 39th FITUR International Tourism Fair 2019, held from January 23rd to the 28th in Madrid, Spain.
The preventive health expert noted that the Ministry of Tourism, Francisco Javier Garcia, is “working on a diversified strategy, including adventure, wellness, and now medical tourism,” to attract 10 million visitors by 2022, a priority for the Dominican Presidency’s Office.
Spaincares
Minister Garcia praised the agreement between the Dominican Health Tourism Association and Spaincares, signed at FITUR, which marked the first time that the Dominican non-profit participates at such event.
For public official, the consensus diversifies the “tourism portfolio and the need to continue supporting public-private partnerships to increase investment, job creation, and the development of the sector.”
Both also agreed to promote the exchange of knowledge, the flow of bilateral medical travelers, and best practices.
“Spanish or Dominicans that live in Spain that (want to) travel to the Dominican Republic, like Dominicans or Spanish that live in the Dominican Republic and who can travel to Spain to receive, mainly, high quality and safe health services,” said Dr. Cambiaso on the interview.
Spaincares offers a global service from the patient’s home until their return and follow-ups. They provide health services in hospitals, spas, or centers of dependency, as solutions for accommodation and other complementary tourism activities, aimed at covering all the needs of patients during their trip.
It also includes collaboration for medical training, certifications, and accreditations, aimed to reach health tourism that is responsible, sustainable, and safe.
DR Health Travel
Dr. Cambiaso mentioned the launch of DR Health Travel, which joins to complement a booming and developing medical travel and wellness industry in the Dominican Republic.
“I believe that one of the most important news for health tourism for the country is the launch of the first specialized tour operator.”
The company led by Maireny Infante, commercial director of the agency, is also an agency specialized in health and wellness tourism, also focused on doing medical, pharmaceutical, and medical devices events, and others.
“We offer comprehensive packages that unify health services and tourism at the highest quality standards and competitive prices while providing the traveler with an opportunity to enjoy the attractions available in the Dominican Republic.
Country ranks
Dr. Alejandro Cambiaso highlighted the country ranks of the Dominican Republic, according to an international ranking report by the Medical Tourism Association.
“We are at the 15th spot from a total of 41 countries, and 5th as a medical travel industry with the most potential,” said the MD and cited Medical Tourism Index, one of the leading rankings.
According to the president of ADTS “in 2017, we received, from a health tourism standpoint, around 41,500 patients.”
He also noted that for tourist medicine there were about 60 to 65 thousand patients and that health tourism represents 247 million dollars to the Dominican Republic’s economy.
Moreover, Minister Garcia supported the fact that the country has been scaling in the international rankings and consolidated as a leader in the Caribbean region.