Dubai's Health Tourism Department announced its participation at the World Travel Market (WTM) 2019 in London as part of its continuing efforts to promote Dubai's leading position as a globally recognized destination for health and wellness treatments. Dubai has maintained a steady growth in health tourism and continues to enhance the experience for patients and wellness tourists. According to the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), the emirate attracted 337,011 medical tourists in 2018 alone, who spent a combined value of AED1.163 billion on treatments in the top leading specialties: Orthopedics, sports medicine, dermatology and skin care, dentistry and fertility treatments. The Health Tourism Department is promoting its 70 plus DXH group members' healthcare facilities in the key source markets including GCC, Europe, Africa, Russia and China. Linda Andullah, Consultant at Health Tourism Department, Dubai Health Authority, said: "We consider WTM as a great platform to meet and network with key global travel partners. Our participation in the latest edition of the event forms part of our strategic efforts to further raise awareness on Dubai's capabilities as a health destination in the travel and tourism sector. The combination of tourism and health and wellness offerings is set to increase the contribution of tourism sector to the economy. Following our highly positive performance on tourist arrivals in 2018, Dubai aims to attract 500,000 medical tourists by 2021, supported by Expo 2020. The UAE medical tourism sales amounted to AED12 billion in 2018, which is a 5.5 percent year-over-year increase in sector sales, driven by new government-led initiatives and a growing number of medical tourists, as per the recent data released by Euromonitor International. DXH aims to expand its comprehensive health services portfolio with the introduction of free second medical opinion provided by selected healthcare providers. Besides, an array of annual health checks ups, wellness programs and same day ‘in and out' procedures are also available at dental and other cosmetic facilities for transit and short stay travelers. In addition to promoting Dubai's Health Experience, the brand conceived by DHA, Health Tourism Department is continuing its efforts to further develop infrastructure, legislation, policies and regulations supporting health tourism. "Further enhancing patient safety and experience and availability of international talent for the delivery of world-class health services are among the key pillars of Dubai's health tourism strategy. This will help Dubai attract even more health tourists in the coming years," added Linda Abdullah. Dubai integrates tourism activities, health, healing relaxation services as well in the safest and most secure environment. The Health Tourism Department has created the first tourism portal DXH.ae in the Middle East, which enables tourists or travel partners to find relevant and latest information on their entire health holiday. This includes booking of appointments with Dubai's leading healthcare providers prior to their visit. The website continuously updates the number of health packages and healthcare facilities that have been verified and added to the DXH Group. — SG
