The number of international visitors who travel to Vietnam for medical services is on the rise.

In 2018, 300,000 foreign tourists came to Vietnam for medical purposes, according to statistics from the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, reports Hanoi Moi. On average, 40% of international tourists who come to Vietnam for this purpose chose Saigon as their destination for medical treatment, Lao Dong reports.

In light of this emerging trend, city authorities and tour operators are trying to tap into this new market, focusing on five main strengths of the city’s medical industry, which include dentistry, traditional medicine, cosmetology, general health checks, and screening tests.

According to Deputy Director of the HCMC Department of Tourism Nguyen Thi Anh Hoa, medical tourism brings in US$2 billion in revenue for Vietnam on average every year. In 2018, the tourism department released a medical tourism guide for Saigon both Vietnamese and English. In September this year, the health department rolled out a mobile app that contains information about health facilities in the city.

Travel companies have also partnered with hospitals to organize medical tours, notably Saigontourist and Fiditour. These tours place heavy emphasis on the low cost and good quality of these hospitals, which is attractive to tourists.

Nguyen Duc Minh, director of the HCMC Dental Hospital, shared that in 2014, the facility treated about 300 foreign tourists and overseas Vietnamese. In recent years this number rose to 500 annually and there is a consistent 10% increase every year.

[Photo via pxhere]