<p>The state government is likely to announce a medical and wellness tourism policy soon. <br /><br />“There are 19 NABH-accredited hospitals in Bengaluru alone. Karnataka is home to 56 medical colleges and offers the highest number of MBBS seats in India. Considering this, we will shortly come out with a medical and wellness tourism policy for Karnataka. It proposes to set up a marketing fund for promoting the state as a medical value travel destination and give financial assistance to entrepreneurs for wellness tourism,” announced Gaurav Gupta, Principal Secretary, Department of IT, Biotechnology and Tourism, government of Karnataka. <br /><br />“I congratulate the Karnataka government for its medical and wellness tourism policy. We would also like to bring out a similar policy at the Central level next year,” said Satyajeet Rajan, Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. <br /><br />The announcements were made at the ‘Advantage Healthcare India 2017’ event organised in Bengaluru from October 12-14. As of 2015, the country’s medical travel market was estimated to be around $3 billion and is expected to touch $9 billion by 2020, according to FICCI-QuintilesIMS knowledge paper on ‘Medical Tourism in India’, which was released at the event.<br /><br />The three-day event is witnessing the participation from over 70 countries and 700 hosted buyers from across the world. <br /><br />Addressing the gathering, Rita Teaotia, Secretary, Dept of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said, “While the size of the Indian medical value travel industry is currently $3 billion, the scale of the entire Indian healthcare industry is $110 billion. It creates a value chain that creates jobs for Indians and broadens the scope of other sectors, including tourism, education, etc.”<br /></p>
<p>The state government is likely to announce a medical and wellness tourism policy soon. <br /><br />“There are 19 NABH-accredited hospitals in Bengaluru alone. Karnataka is home to 56 medical colleges and offers the highest number of MBBS seats in India. Considering this, we will shortly come out with a medical and wellness tourism policy for Karnataka. It proposes to set up a marketing fund for promoting the state as a medical value travel destination and give financial assistance to entrepreneurs for wellness tourism,” announced Gaurav Gupta, Principal Secretary, Department of IT, Biotechnology and Tourism, government of Karnataka. <br /><br />“I congratulate the Karnataka government for its medical and wellness tourism policy. We would also like to bring out a similar policy at the Central level next year,” said Satyajeet Rajan, Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. <br /><br />The announcements were made at the ‘Advantage Healthcare India 2017’ event organised in Bengaluru from October 12-14. As of 2015, the country’s medical travel market was estimated to be around $3 billion and is expected to touch $9 billion by 2020, according to FICCI-QuintilesIMS knowledge paper on ‘Medical Tourism in India’, which was released at the event.<br /><br />The three-day event is witnessing the participation from over 70 countries and 700 hosted buyers from across the world. <br /><br />Addressing the gathering, Rita Teaotia, Secretary, Dept of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said, “While the size of the Indian medical value travel industry is currently $3 billion, the scale of the entire Indian healthcare industry is $110 billion. It creates a value chain that creates jobs for Indians and broadens the scope of other sectors, including tourism, education, etc.”<br /></p>
