Hotels are realising there’s good revenue to be made from the current influx of medical travellers to Asia-Pacific. However, they still have to firm up their linkages with hospitals, says Margie T Logarta.
With medical travel creating a buzz as Asia-Pacific’s current “sunrise industry”, the number of accommodation providers beginning to take notice of this growth catalyst is fast increasing. Many visitor-patients would rather recuperate in less hospital-like surroundings, after all, and since most are escorted on their travels by a family member or companion, the medical-travel industry presents significant opportunities for the hospitality sector.
Despite the obvious synergies between health facilities, hotels and serviced apartments, players from both sides in different regional markets revealed varying stages of initiatives and success. Like the medical-travel industry itself, this area of business is evolving daily as various entities size up each other’s needs and determine long-term benefits. Here is the state of play in some key markets.
Manila
The Ortigas area – site of the Asian Development Bank and the city’s second stock exchange – boasts three international chain hotels and two serviced residences that can ably cater to the clientele of The Medical City, a JCI-accredited (a much sought-after rating scheme adhering to US hospital standards) facility, Cardinal Santos Hospital and popular LASIK clinic, the American Eye Center.
“We’re definitely open to the idea (of tying up with a hotel), but so far we have no formal agreement with anybody,” is how Dr Jack Arroyo, president of the 12-year-old American Eye Center in the Ortigas district of Metro Manila sums up its relationship with the surrounding accommodation providers. The centre attracts patients from Hongkong, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Guam and the US (mostly Filipino immigrants) eager to undergo LASIK eye surgery, and Arroyo says the centre has performed about 30,000 such procedures.
There are a number of reasons for the lack of formal tie ups. Chiefly, LASIK results are, on the whole, quickly apparent, so foreign patients need only stay overnight, and barring any complications, can fly off the next day. Located in the bustling Shangri-La Plaza mall, the centre is ringed by several hospitality providers, the nearest being the adjacent EDSA Shangri-La, while the Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Linden Suites and Richmonde Hotel are only minutes away. The centre, however, charges only for the operation, citing price competition as a disincentive to package the operation with accommodation.
“Since business is very competitive, margins are thin,” says Arroyo. “We are satisfied with the fee (about US$1,477 for both eyes) that we charge, because the volume makes up for things. It’s really up to the travel agent to add their mark-up.” Arroyo also points out that, at present, “we’re the ones who inform patients about the nearby hotels. We’re getting nothing for this.”
Lourdes Juco and Cecile Weber, sales and marketing directors of the Makati Shangri-La and EDSA Shangri-La respectively, say that following the Department of Tourism’s directive in 2006 to go after medical travellers, the Shangri-La hotels launched packages targeting them, but response has been slow. Juco observes: “We know there are guests who come for check-ups and treatments, but they haven’t availed themselves of our offer, nor do they tell us they’re here for medical purposes.”
Weber adds: “Even if the hospitals recommend us, many of the patients usually prefer to make their own arrangements, especially the balikbayans (overseas Filipinos), who would rather stay with their relatives. If they’re booked by travel agents, the travel agents do not inform us that they are medical tourists.”
EDSA Shangri-La, however, isn’t deterred by the lukewarm reaction to its promotions and will continue to market in this direction. Weber says: “We want these travellers, since they are known to stay longer and spend more in the hotel.”
In fact, the EDSA Shangri-La has expanded the definition of medical tourism to include the wellness component, capitalising on the recent opening of its new CHI Spa, a brand that has been successively rolled out across the Shangri-La network. Besides CHI’s signature Tibetan therapies, local techniques such as hilot (the ancient Filipino art of relaxing stressed muscles) and dagdagay (traditional foot bath using rattan or bamboo sticks) star in the menu. Six rooms in the hotel’s Garden Wing have been designated as CHI guestrooms, their interiors described as “nirvana-like” to mirror the spa’s philosophy.
Pearl P Maclang, director of sales and marketing of Crowne Plaza Galleria Manila and Holiday Inn Galleria Manila, adds: “Our proximity to hospitals such as Medical City and Cardinal Santos is an advantage. When sensitive conditions are flagged to us, our staff, including our hotel nurses, monitor the needs of the guests, and we always have a good availability of wheelchairs.”
Dr Eugene Ramos, director, medical management and services development unit of the brand-new Medical City, also in the Ortigas district, stresses that an accommodation provider or travel agent seeking a relationship with the hospital “needs to understand our position and how we market ourselves”.
“There shouldn’t be any discrepancies between our values and their values – and that is to understand the needs and wants of the patients as well as the nature of the procedure,” he says. “Due to the nature of their stay, they cannot be charged on a daily basis.”
Cebu
Major resorts on Mactan Island such as Shangri-La, Plantation Bay and White Sands and the Cebu Midtown and Marriott downtown regularly take in foreign patients who fly in for procedures at prominent hospitals such as the Cebu Doctors’ Hospital – a network of five facilities – that has been vigorously laying the groundwork for medical travel. Hospital administrator Oscar Tuason, who has visited the facilities of India’s Apollo Group and Bangkok’s Bumrungrad International Hospital, is confident the city will be able to compete on the world stage. “Our strength lies in LASIK eye surgery, executive check-ups and heart surgery,” he says. “In the last year, we received a lot of enquiries. The Canadians, especially, came with requests focusing on cosmetic procedures and LASIK. And we’ll be doing kidney transplants soon.” Markets such as Europe, the US, Japan and Korea continue to provide a steady stream of patients.
Admitting that peak holiday seasons pose room booking problems, Tuason says there may be some relief in sight. He reports a Korean travel agent has been in discussion with White Sands, along Maribago Beach on Mactan, to allocate an entire wing for groups. “And White Sands seems willing.”
Patients, he explains, can be quite fussy when choosing a place to recover. “Beach resorts, such as those on Mactan Island, win out because these are close to the water – that matters a lot to the convalescent, as well as seeing a lot of greenery and vegetation.” Tuason observes that their partner properties were handling the needs of medical-travel guests very professionally, citing the presence of on-site dieticians and nutritionists. “But perhaps some of the staff could undergo additional emergency training such as CPR.”
In three years’ time, Cebu Doctors’ intends to add a leisure property to its hospital in Naga City, a 45-minute drive south of Cebu. “This will develop into a sort of retirement-resort complex,” says Tuason, adding it will mostly likely cater to Japanese pensioners.
New Delhi
In India, tight room supply in cities such as the capital New Delhi is hampering initiatives between health facilities and hotels from developing further. Sanjay Rai, director of sales and marketing of Max Healthcare, points to “the astronomical rates hotels are quoting” as a rising deterrent to medical travel. “How do you expect travellers, especially those on a budget, to afford such prices?” he asks.
“There has to be a paradigm shift in hoteliers’ thinking. Ultimately, the medical traveller spends comparably with, if not more than, the business traveller, being confined to the hotel. Room tariffs simply have to come down to get this market to see value in coming here and getting treated at our hospitals.”
Benita Sharma, general manager of the new Sheraton New Delhi (formerly the Marriott) and one of Max Healthcare’s partners, says the real secret of a successful tie-up with a medical facility is staff who are responsive to the patients’ needs. “Our chefs are well versed in handling any dietary requirement. The staff has had training in basic first aid, and since Max is only minutes away, they can be rushed there. We are always online with them, and if the guest needs a nurse to attend to them, we can get one from the hospital. We are also equipped with rooms with hard floors, wheelchairs and oxygen cylinders. There’s also a doctor on 24-hour standby.”
But all that medical expertise and preparation by hotels would be useless, says Sharma, if world trust in India’s ability to treat and cure according to international standards is not strengthened. “If quality healthcare can be had at a lower price, and with the same facilities, that would matter a lot to people. However, confidence (in India) will take a while. What’s needed is a major marketing campaign to bolster our credibility.”
So far, the hotel hasn’t gotten around to tracking the figures for medical travellers. Sharma observes: “A lot come in for beauty or heart procedures and they don’t want to make it public. It’s only when a doctor books for them then we know why they are here. As soon as these profiles become more defined, then we will get into segmentation.”
The Taj Hotel Group’s two Delhi properties, Taj Mahal and Taj Palace, do not report much medical travel business, says Roli Sharma, director of commercial sales, sales and marketing department, as they cater to predominantly corporates. It’s their three Chennai properties – Taj Connemara, Taj Coromandel and Fisherman’s Cove – that have entered into an agreement with Apollo Hospitals, providing special tariffs to patients. Soon, the hotels and medical group will jointly promote a cosmetic procedure whose details have yet to be announced.
Bangkok
A number of accommodation providers caught on quickly to the potential of medical travel, of which Thailand is an acknowledged pioneer in the region and responded to it. Among the early birds were the JW Marriott Bangkok and Ascott Group (operator of serviced residence brands Ascott, Somerset and the still-new-to-Asia, Citadines).
The JW Marriott, a 10-minute walk from Bumrungrad International Hospital, Thailand’s first JCI-accredited hospital, has been welcoming frequent visitors from Hongkong and Singapore, incorporating check-ups and procedures into their shopping weekends. Says a hotel spokesperson: “They usually stay two to three days. The check-up takes only about half a day, with results available on the same day, if not the next.”
The Middle East market, which represents big business for the hotel, lingers between seven and 14 days, making the most of the long trip from its part of the world, interspersing medical treatments with serious retail therapy. The spa, swimming pool and suites that connect to other rooms are amenities that rank high with these travellers, who most often travel as a family. They seem to prefer exploring Bangkok and enjoying the hotel amenities rather than flying south to Phuket to try JW Marriott’s sister properties there, the JW Marriott and Renaissance.
Ascott has gone the extra mile to register all long-stay guests billeted in any Ascott, Somerset and Citadines property (and even its Somerset residences in Vietnam) with Bangkok’s BNH Hospital as well provide other privileges. According to the organisation, these include the services of a registered nurse or doctor to help manage any existing medical condition of the clients when travelling from the airport to an Ascott property, preliminary health screening at the Health Kiosk located in the lobby and advice from the health adviser who can clarify the health packages available to the resident.
Supap Sirins, general manager of Marriott Executive Apartments, adds that a serviced residence has the obvious advantage of space over a regular hotel room or suite, especially for an individual who is recovering from a procedure: “Some desire the privacy and being able to cook when they want to.”
Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit of Starwood’s Luxury Collection was one of the few, who provided a definite medical travel package consisting of a 5,800 baht (US$197) daily rate, representing a 35 percent discount on normal rates, and which includes 20 percent off F&B and laundry, free local calls and in-room fruit baskets. It ties up with hospitals such as Bumrungrad, says Chris Chung, former director of sales and marketing, who has since moved to the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel & Towers near the Chao Phraya River. “We can also prepare special meals featuring low-carb, vegetarian, high-protein or low-sodium items.”
The InterContinental has announced plans to work also with Bumrungrad to design healthy selections to be featured in its room service menus. (Its counterpart in Hongkong, InterContinental Hongkong has collaborated with the Adventist Hospital in the ihealth initiative to offer delicious but nutritious meals in various F&B outlets.)
Singapore
Traditionally, hotels in the Lion City set their caps for corporate and leisure clientele. Now, it is medical travel that is keeping them busy, repositioning for this niche, scouring for fresh partnerships and fine-tuning their products and services to suit new demands. Tan Mei Ling, director of marketing and business development, Sheraton Towers, admits that since this field is a new one “but a growing one”, they are still exploring which medical facilities to approach. Sheraton’s quiet location just off bustling Orchard Road is, says Tan, one of the prime reasons patients choose the hotel, something she says they will emphasise in future promotional material.
Traders Hotel, Shangri-La’s mid-range tier, is only a short taxi ride from Camden Medical Centre and Gleneagles Hospital, while next door is Tanglin Mall with its specialist and holistic clinics. According to Tracy Ng, its sales and marketing director, medical visitors stay from three to five days for appointments or longer if surgery and subsequent recuperation is required. Ramps located at the hotel entrance, restaurant and health club help convalescents move with ease around the premises.
Traders’ sizeable swimming pool and spa help create a resort feel, and having the adjacent mall makes it easier for them to pick up sundries and over-the-counter supplies, Ng remarks. The three “wheelchair-accessible guestrooms also come in handy if needed, and these come with toilet facilities to match and an “emergency help” button. While some staff are trained to dispense basic first aid, they also know to alert nearby Gleneagles Hospital, which provides paramedics for more serious matters.
Far East Hospitality – with six properties scattered throughout the island – can certainly cater to medical guests. Five of its hotels: The Elizabeth, Golden Landmark, Changi Village Hotel, Orchard Hotel and Albert Court are near hospitals such as Mount Elizabeth, Gleneagles, Raffles and Changi General. Patients can either walk to their appointments or hail a cab.
