The travel business was able to regain its footing in 2024, finally surpassing 2019 volume and traffic levels but one category continues to grow consistently even in the face of questionable worldwide economics and a changing political landscape. Medical travel, also known as medical tourism and wellness tourism, has increased in popularity as those very economics fuel inflation, driving healthcare expenses higher. Reduced healthcare capacity in the post-COVID 19 world is also powering the medical tourism category as medical travelers opt for procedures abroad, avoiding long wait times in their home region. While medical tourism does provide practical options to those seeking healthcare services, the complexities of planning and executing such trips can be daunting to those users planning medical trips. Technology can be adapted to ease some of the stresses associated with medical trip planning and the evolution of smartphone functionality can deliver benefits and conveniences to medical travelers.
Research and Planning Complex Travel
Medical and wellness tourism is much more complex than other categories of travel and the research and planning stage is the first crucial step to a successful healthcare trip abroad. Medical trips have several components that require research and planning in advance:
- Air and ground transportation needs
- Accommodations
- Healthcare facility locations and navigation
- Local healthcare resources and regulations
- Pre and post treatment needs
Online resources and category specific platforms can provide easy to access research and tools that can assist in planning and organizing medical trips. Social media pages that cater to medical tourism is a good resource for traveler feedback from real world experiences. Searching blogs that cover medical travel can help with strategies and tips for creating a successful medical and wellness trip.
Harnessing the Advanced Functionality of Smartphones
Smartphones and mobile devices have become the go to travel accessory and usage while on trips continues to increase year after year as technology and capabilities increase and evolve. The advanced functions of smartphones makes them a practical tool for medical and wellness tourism. Medical travel specific mobile apps such as medTOUR+assist can deliver significant benefits and conveniences to medical travelers such as:
- Itinerary and trip organization
- Appointment reminders and notifications
- Access to localized health care resources
- Facility navigation
- Pre and post trip checklists
Mobile apps are an ideal tool to provide conveniences and benefits for medical travelers. medTOUR+assist maximizes mobile device functionality and is an all-in-one solution for medical travel planning, organization and execution.
The Virtual Trip Planner
Artificial Intelligence is next generation technology for the travel industry and is poised to change the way consumers access, research and interact with travel businesses. AI’s advanced ability to execute tasks can help medical travelers research and plan medical and wellness trips by using simple text or voice inputs. Users can now simply ask in plain language and receive the most relevant and latest information available. AI models can help plan trips from end to end, starting with research to reservations to taking payments to complete purchases. AI based ‘concierge’ type services can make recommendations based on past data and popularity as well as analyze past user reviews. Further innovations in AI will eventually enable services to be used in real time, during the medical trip to ensure a better experience and successful completion.
Peace of Mind through Innovation
The medical tourism category continues to grow at a healthy pace and is poised to reach a $822.7 billion (USD) valuation by 2034. Increasing healthcare costs, shrinking insurance coverage and declining medical capacity are the main factors in driving demand for medical and wellness travel. The complexities of these trips can cause added stress as medical travelers look abroad for more economical and practical healthcare solutions. Today’s consumer facing innovations can simplify planning and execution of medical and wellness related trips, reducing some of the stress associated and increasing confidence and peace of mind of the medical traveler. Mobile apps, such as medTOUR+assist, use the advanced capabilities of mobile devices to deliver tangible conveniences and benefits to medical travelers. As demand for out of country health care services ramps up, so will demand for technology that streamlines the medical travel planning process and helps travel users successfully complete their medical and wellness trips.
