In the framework of ExpoTurismo Santiago 2024, the panel “Discovering the potential: Health tourism in Santiago and its global impact” was held, where a presentation was made on the following topics.
Julián Sued, president of the Board of Directors of Unión Médica del Norte, in offering perspectives on the development of health tourism for the city of Santiago, emphasized that due to its geographical location, close to all tourist spots, its excellent air and land communication, its great hospital structure of large, modern and competitive hospital centers, such as the Clínica Universitaria Unión Médica, it is becoming a great Hub of the Health Tourism Cluster for the development of fourth-level medicine.
“Dominican Republic is the second most visited destination in Latin America, after Mexico in terms of tourism, and this benefits Santiago as the nerve center of the country, because it also contributes between 15-17% to the GDP of our economy,” he said.
He specified that in the Clínica Universitaria Unión Médica its main visitors “who come looking for health are Dominicans living abroad, followed by patients coming from our neighbors Haiti, Turk and Caicos Island; Saint Martin, Guadeloupe and Puerto Rico”.
“After Mexico, our country is the second most visited in the area and I am sure that last year’s figures will be surpassed this year. Who does tourism, quality of medical care, safety and the legality of services. The patient experience is the same in healthcare services. Well-told experiences attract more tourists, he emphasized”.
Sued revealed that all clinics that offer health services must have an international department. “That is another challenge we must address because we are receiving many patients who are not Spanish-speaking, mostly from the United States, Haiti and the French-speaking islands.”
On her side, Amelia Reyes Mora, vice president of the Dominican Association of Health Tourism (ADTS), said that the first medical specialty that visitors seek is dentistry; then plastic surgery; orthopedic and ophthalmology; while others come for preventive studies.
He emphasized that the country must have updated statistics of all the services we are offering; as well as the number of visitors coming for health and wellness reasons.
“We must also continue to promote that more health centers are certified. This will help us compete more, to differentiate ourselves with international standards and protocols that endorse the quality of the services we are offering,” he said.
The panel was sponsored by the Dominican Association of Tourism Press (Adompretur), with the support of the Dominican Civil Aviation Institute (IDAC), the Northern Medical Union and the Ministry of Tourism (Mitur).
Source:Arecoa.com
