Medical tourism market of Mexico reports huge growth
With a population of more than 122 million and the only developing destination in North America, Mexico is the 15th largest economy in the world. Its healthcare system is a mix of public and private, and the destination just recently achieved universal healthcare coverage. Mexico’s private healthcare system is amazingly big, as approximately 66% of the 4,500 hospitals nationwide are privately owned. But the public healthcare system is also very efficient, as two thirds of its population relies on it, and national health authorities are working on an everyday basis to make it more inclusive and effective. The Mexican government and the private sector are constantly striving to improve the quality of service and obtain world recognized certifications, in order to become a more reliable destination for patients traveling out of the United States and other countries, who are seeking medical attention provided by qualified physicians, in state-of-the-art facilities at reasonable prices. Mexico is one of the top 10 nations in the Americas for Medical Tourism. It is considered an ideal destination for this market segment, due to its proximity to the United States, infrastructure, air connectivity and its cost-benefit advantage over other Latin American countries. The Tourism Secretariat of Mexico (SECTUR) has been working in a highly effective communication campaign that was launched three year ago, with the main goal of positioning Mexico as a world-class medical tourism destination. This has allowed Mexico to become one of the top medical tourism destinations and host a huge amount of medical tourists, coming especially from North and Latin America, due to high quality treatments with efficient cost. Specifically, the state of Yucatán, through its Secretariat of Tourism Promotion (Secretaría de Fomento al Turismo: SEFOTUR), has implemented a global campaign with the objective of turning the city of Merida into one of the most important medical tourism destinations in the country, highlighting its hospital infrastructure, air connectivity, high quality accommodations as well as its cultural richness.
