Matta president Nigel Wong said the right incentives would make travel agents more inclined to promote medical tourism in Malaysia.

“(Putrajaya) will need to work together with the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) to provide (travel agents with) adequate training on how to promote medical tourism products,” he told FMT.

Wong said the industry should tailor promotions in specific countries, including China and India, to target those seeking medical treatment overseas.

“Malaysia needs to effectively combine its medical offerings together with its tourism potential. Many of the destinations in Malaysia are suitable for post-operation individuals to go for convalescence or healing.”

Recently, it was reported that medical tourism has become a major source of revenue for Penang, earning over RM583 million in the first nine months of 2023, according to the Penang Centre of Medical Tourism.

This is a significant increase compared with the aggregate of RM356 million which the sector drew for Penang in the preceding year.

According to the MHTC, Malaysia’s medical tourism industry reached RM1.3 billion in revenue last year, a marked increase from RM585 million in 2021.

Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) president Dr Kuljit Singh believes a public-private collaboration is crucial to boost the industry.

“There is no collaboration currently. The aviation industry works on its own to bring people in.

“If there is more cooperation between the government and airlines that have wider connectivity with our target countries, such as Indonesia, it could effectively boost medical tourism,” he said.

Kuljit also believes an expansion of the medical tourism industry would lead to spillover effects benefiting other sectors.

“It will allow private hospitals to expand, providing job opportunities to locals and more revenue for the government from taxation. It will also generate more income for related industries like hotels, restaurants and tourism activities,” he said.