Chinese tour group lauds Taiwans medical tourism

Taipei, Sept. 27 (CNA) Members of a 17-person tour group from China s Jiangsu Province lauded Taiwan s medical advancements Monday during a week-long fact-finding mission on Taiwan s medical tourism.

The group arrived Sept. 26 and will stay in Taiwan for six days, during which of 12 of them will receive full-body non-invasive health checks at Taipei City s Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital in Taipei as well as residing at a five-star natural hot spring resort in Taoyuan County and enjoying tailor-made nutritional meals throughout their stay.

Some of the medical procedures the group will undergo include MRI, PET and 256-slice CT scans to check for signs of cancer, cardiovascular disease and cerebral disease -- the three leading causes of death in Taiwan.

The entire package costs roughly 12,800 Chinese yuan (US$1,911) , about twice the price of a regular tour package, said Alex Hung, president of the Shinkong Medical Club.

Group member Qin Jianwei, a real estate investor and tour operator who has been to Taiwan five times, said Taiwan s medical tourism has enormous business opportunities in attracting Chinese tourists.

"I have received similar check-ups in China and the environment and the service in Taiwan are far better than what we have in China," said Qin, who brought his entire family of five on the trip.

Zhang Minghung, a seasoned tour operator of 21 years, predicted that Taiwan s medical tourism will become one of the biggest attractions for mid-to high-income Chinese tourists.

Although other countries, such as India, Thailand and Japan are all pushing medical tourism, Zhang said, Taiwan is the best choice for Chinese tourists because "there is no language barrier, the cost is more reasonable and there is a sense of warmth and familiarity between Chinese and Taiwanese people."

He said two more similar tour groups from Nanjing City and Jiangsu Province are expected to arrive in Taiwan in the next few months and that in the future, at least two Chinese medical tour groups might come to Taiwan each month.

Both tour operators also urged the Taiwanese government to expedite its approval of entry by individual Chinese tourists, saying that doing so would greatly increase Chinese tourists  interest in Taiwanese medical tourism.

Department of Health Minister Yaung Chih-liang said at a medical conference in July that Taiwan should capitalize on its " excellent medical resources and attempt to attract patients from China among other countries, " warning that if Taiwan fails to do so, good Taiwanese doctors and hospitals might end up relocating to China to take advantage of the booming demand there.

Hung for his part also urged the government to put more effort into marketing Taiwanese medical tourism on a global scale, calling it one of the country s major "soft powers."

At present, the Shinkong Medical Club makes as much as NT$20 million each year from Chinese tourists seeking medical services. The figure is roughly 2 percent of the center s total revenue and Hung expressed hope that with the influx of Chinese tourists, the number will increase by at least 5 percent by the end of next year.