Saudi medical tourism offers broad opportunities

JEDDAH - Saudi Arabia's medical tourism has tremendous potentials though much have to be done to promote it, Ziyad Ahmad Bin Mahfouz, president - Elaf GroupElaf Group, a leader in travel and tourism industry, said.

"The local market itself offers vast opportunities. The number of Saudis going abroad for medical treatment has decreased over the last three years due to the downturn and the availability of world-class medical services and facilities in the Kingdom itself," he said, noting that "there are already a number of hospitals and clinics promoting medical tourism in the Kingdom, mainly in Riyadh and Jeddah. Complementing these developments is the constant expansion of the country's advanced health system."

"However, there are some challenges that need to be addressed, foremost of which is the lack of overseas marketing for the Kingdom's health sector," Ziyad said. "Future promotions should focus on pediatrics, obesity and eye treatments, which are most sought after by foreigners. Local expertise in stem cell and infertility treatment is also rapidly improving," he pointed out.

On the regional front, he said the Gulf's travel sector has fared far better than those in other parts of the world over the past two years, so the potential for added capacity, especially in light of an expected recovery in 2010, is still strong.

"I would like to note though, that the Kingdom has the advantage of being the only country in the region which did not record declines in Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR), Average Daily Room Rate (ADR) or occupancy rate in 2009. I again attribute this mainly to the country's thriving religious tourism business, which is also the main competitive advantage of KAIAKAIA as it is located close to the cities of Mecca and Medina, two of the holiest places in Islam. In fact, the airport has a Haj Terminal specially built to accommodate foreign pilgrims taking part in the annual Haj," the amiable president of Elaf GroupElaf Group said.

Commenting on the expansion of the King Abdul Aziz International Airport (KAIA)King Abdul Aziz International Airport (KAIA), he said an important focal point is religious tourism, as millions of people visit the Kingdom each year to perform the Haj and Umrah rituals.

Moreover, the Kingdom has been able to combine the appeal of its timeless desert environment and unique culture with its steady progress in areas such as education and technology, and this will be important to filing in capacity, he observed.

He added that the primary markets that support the airport expansion is the Middle East in general, and Morocco, Egypt and Turkey in particular, given the population density of those states.

Moreover, commenting on the online ticketing and its impact on travel agents, Ziyad said though the trend has become very popular throughout the country because of its simplicity and accessibility, still majority of travelers prefer to purchase tickets through travel agents. "There is a valuable level of trust in face-to-face transactions that still makes agencies the best option for making travel arrangements," he pointed out.

More travel agents have put up their own websites, so what is happening is that people book temporarily through the portal and then purchase the tickets in person. This has become a safer and more efficient option for many customers, he explained.

For this year, the president of Elaf GroupElaf Group said "our main focus is to maintain the highest levels of service quality, especially as we expect renewed interest in travel within the next few months. We also want to expand capacity, so we plan to open new hotels and increase the number of rooms in our existing facilities." There are a number of major activities scheduled within the year as well "which we will be announcing soon," he added.