Medical Tourism News
Batik Air partners with Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council to boost medical tourism
Malaysia is making travel arrangements easier for overseas patients
Aviation company Batik Air has entered into a collaboration with the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council( MHTC) to facilitate medical tourism to the Southeast Asian nation by leveraging its airline network.
The aim is to further put Malaysia on the regional medical tourism map while also benefiting the travel sector by providing a high-quality travel experience for overseas patients who seek medical and wellness services in the country.
In particular, Batik Air will offer“ seamless connectivity for medical travellers while providing co-branded advertising opportunities and exclusive travel packages.” For instance, travellers who have hospital appointments will be given priority boarding. Other benefits for travellers will include dedicated support services to make their journey hassle-free as well as improved connectivity to the top Malaysian healthcare providers. At the same time, the MHTC will participate in joint marketing strategies to promote the quality of Malaysian healthcare.
Malaysia is a top medical tourism destination in the region, with more than one million international patients having checked in at Malaysian hospitals in 2023. Batik Air chief executive officer Datuk Chandran Rama Muthy believes the new partnership will fuel this trend even more through seamless travel.
“ In 2024, Malaysia’ s healthcare travel industry recorded 584,468 health tourist arrivals in the first half of the year, with Indonesia as the highest contributor. Through Batik Air’ s extensive network, quality medical and wellness services in Malaysia will become more accessible,” he said in a press release, adding that the
partnership will market Malaysian healthcare across Indonesia, particularly those places Batik Air already flies to, such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, Bali, Batam, Lombok, Padang, Pekanbaru, Yogyakarta, Makassar, and Banda Aceh.
Historically, Indonesian patients have made up the largest share of healthcare travellers to Malaysia due to geographical proximity and cultural similarities. Like international patients from other countries, Indonesians travel to Malaysia for a variety of services, from simple health check-ups to complex surgeries.
Batik Air is also planning to broaden its destinations to improve connectivity and make it easier for international patients to fly to Malaysia.
MHTC chief executive officer Dr Mohamed Ali Abu Bakar said that the aim was to expand the collaboration with Batik Air in the future to adapt to the demands of the global medical tourism market, according to the press release.
The partnership with Batik Air is just one of the latest initiatives by the MHTC to facilitate medical tourism. Last year the government agency collaborated with Express Rail Link Sdn Bhd to provide health travellers with exclusive packages, including MHTC meet-and-greet services.
“ We have seen an upward trajectory in our Q1 2024 performance of healthcare tourism, and this collaboration is our strategic initiative to support the growing influx of health travellers in Malaysia. Here at MHTC, we are committed in making our healthcare services even more accessible and convenient for our health travellers,” said Dr Abu Bakar when the collaboration started, according to Malaysiakini.
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