Medical tourism sales in the UAE increased 5.5% year-over-year to reach AED 12.1 billion (USD 3.2 billion) in 2018 with growth supported by a number of government-led initiatives and the rising number of medical tourists in the country, a new analysis released by Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry revealed.
The analysis, based on recent data from Euromonitor International and Fitch Solutions, found that health expenditure in the UAE amounted to an estimated AED 50.3 billion (USD 13.6 billion) in 2018, marking a 5.4% increase compared to the previous year.
Key factors supporting this growth trend include new medical tourism initiatives implemented by government entities and increasing sector privatisation of the sector in the form of investment and the building state-of-the-art health facilities. Among the main initiatives recently introduced by the Dubai Health Authority is the Dubai Health Experience (DXH) which is the first medical tourism portal in the region enabling tourists to book their entire medical holiday online.
Furthermore, the Abu Dhabi Department of Health and Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT) jointly launched the Abu Dhabi Medical Tourism e-portal, a digital platform that provides visitors to Abu Dhabi with all medical offerings and healthcare facilities available throughout the duration of their visit.
