3 hrs in Thailand is equal to 10 days in India
Posted in Health Care on 12/01/2007 05:03 am by CarethicsOur age old visa norms & regulations is making a dent in the rapidly growing medical tourism sector. Our laws regarding visa processing for medical tourists are too stringent for the Indian healthcare industry to compete with its competitors, reports Mint. It says India’s biggest rival in this space i.e. Thailand has much faster processing method which help them provide medical visas in just three hours, whereas here it takes 10 days to get the same visa. & over above once medical tourists are here, Bureau of Immigration (govt body that overlooks immigration & registration) asks them to register themselves within 14 days of arrival.
Hospitals want the visa process to be more customer friendly, they are even looking at opening counters at the Airports if allowed….much like tourism industry. No wonder in the near future they come out with shops, counters….
CII-Mckinsey report estimates that medical tourism generated $333 million in revenues with 1,00, 000 such patients in 2005, and it predicts the industry will grow to $2 billion by 2012.