The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) says that to stimulate the industry and economy, the government should provide incentives to travel agents to entice them to sell medical tourism products abroad.

Travel agents would be more likely to promote medical tourism in Malaysia if they were given the correct incentives, according to Nigel Wong, President of Matta.

"Putrajaya and the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) must collaborate to ensure that travel agents receive sufficient training on marketing medical tourism products," he stated to FMT.

According to Wong, the industry ought to customize promotions in particular nations, such as China and India, to appeal to people who are traveling abroad for medical care.

"Malaysia must successfully integrate its potential for tourism with its medical offerings. Many of Malaysia's locations are appropriate for people recovering from surgery to visit for convalescence or healing.

According to the Penang Centre of Medical Tourism, medical tourism has grown to be a significant source of income for Penang, bringing in over RM583 million in the first nine months of 2023.

When compared to the total of RM356 million that the sector brought in for Penang the year before, this represents a substantial increase.

Malaysia's medical tourism sector brought in RM1.3 billion in revenue last year, up sharply from RM585 million in 2021, according to the MHTC.

Dr. Kuljit Singh, president of the Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM), thinks that public-private cooperation is essential to growing the sector.

"At the moment, there is no collaboration. The aviation sector attracts customers on its own.

"Medical tourism could effectively be boosted if there is more cooperation between the government and airlines that have wider connectivity with our target countries, like Indonesia," the official stated.

Additionally, Kuljit thinks that growth in the medical tourism sector would have positive knock- on effects for other industries.

"It will enable private hospitals to grow, creating jobs for the community and bringing in more tax money for the government." Additionally, it will increase revenue for businesses that are related to it, such as lodging, dining, and tourism, he stated.